Lord Michaelis
by Teagarden
Summary: After already more or less swearing her life to Sebastian in order to preserve Ciel's soul until he grows old, you'd think it'd be easy for Faye to accept Sebastian's marriage proposal. But when is giving yourself to a demon in marriage ever easy? Especially when William is trying to convince Faye to rejoin the Grim Reaper society. Part 3 in the Lady Phantomhive series.
1. Proposal

**A/N:** I have to dedicate this to xredificationx, ThePrincessofBlackHearts, and fanwriter1245 for the lovely reviews they gave me on Countess Phantomhive in the past 6 months or so. It made me look at my notes for this story and got me into the mood to start writing Black Butler again, so thanks! This third part will be the end of the Lady Phantomhive series now that Sebastian and Faye are finally almost officially together. I hope you enjoy!

Sebastian titled Faye's face up and stared into her eyes. "Faye Phantomhive, will you marry me?"

Faye stopped dancing, staring up at Sebastian in shock. She didn't know what to say. Didn't know what to think. She was still having a hard time believing that Sebastian was alive and standing before her.

"I-I-I…Have you spent the past three weeks fabricating a story and gathering what you need to pass yourself off as a Marquis?" That wasn't what Faye meant to say, but it worked as well as anything since she didn't really know what she'd meant to say. And she honestly wanted to know. It had been three weeks since Sebastian and Claude disappeared from Trancy Manor. Faye and Ciel had believed that both demons perished during their fight. Phantomhive Manor had been depressed and listless with Sebastian gone.

"It's not a fabrication," Sebastian said in an offended tone. "At least, not one that anyone will ever discover."

"Of course," Faye said numbly as Sebastian led her outside to the gardens of Midford Manor and away from the rest of the ball attendees. Sebastian always did everything perfectly. "What-what about Ciel?" Faye asked. She still couldn't wrap her mind around the fact that Sebastian had just proposed to her. That he had returned with the title of a Marquis for the express purpose of marrying Faye. How was she supposed to handle this abrupt and complete change in circumstances?

"I have no interest in marrying Ciel," Sebastian assured Faye, smiling as he brought one of her hands to his lips. "You're the one that I love."

Faye gave Sebastian a look and Sebastian said, "I am still beholden to Ciel and will be until I eat his soul. My marrying you won't change that. I will just aid him in a different manner than I have up to this point."

"Ciel will be furious," Faye said. Ciel, brilliant and capable as he was, was also hugely dependent upon Sebastian as his butler. He'd struggled greatly the three weeks that Sebastian had been gone. He barely knew how to function without a demon butler capable of fulfilling his every need and whim at his side.

"That is not my concern," Sebastian said, wrapping an arm around Faye's waist and pulling her close to him. "I'm much more interested in fulfilling _your_ wishes, my Lady." He placed a hand under her chin and tilted her face up toward his. "You always wanted to get married, didn't you? It was your plan growing up and your plan again after you moved back to Phantomhive Manor. You thought you gave up any chance of marrying when you made a deal with me to prolong the time when I'll eat your brother's soul, but it doesn't have to be that way. Plus, this is the perfect solution to your Aunt Francis' incessant desire to see you married. This is the only solution that is acceptable."

Faye couldn't think as Sebastian's lips drew closer to hers. Everything Sebastian had just said was true, but marrying a demon was hardly what she'd pictured while growing up.

Faye could feel Sebastian's breathe on her lips when an indignant voice asked, "What is going on here?"

Sebastian pulled away from Faye to face Marchioness Midford. "Lady Midford, I have excellent news. As I'd hoped, I've found the woman I'm going to marry at your ball." He moved to the side so Faye became visible, keeping his arm around her waist.

Aunt Francis' eyes widened in surprise for a moment before she covered it up with a stern look. "As pleased I am both that you've found a bride and that that bride is my niece, it is hardly appropriate for the two of you to be out here alone. It's not proper." Despite Aunt Francis severe gaze and words, Faye caught a look of pleased triumph in her aunt's eyes.

"You're quite right," Sebastian said, removing his arm from Faye to lay it over his heart as he bowed to the Marchioness. "I apologize deeply for my lack of decorum. I'm afraid we simply got lost in the moment."

"I-I haven't said yes," Faye interjected, feeling panicked. What was happening here? Did Aunt Francis not recognize Sebastian as the Phantomhive's butler? Or had Sebastian come to her beforehand and given her some story about how he was really a Marquis?

Aunt Francis gave Faye another severe look, her eyebrows furrowed in displeasure. "Stop being ridiculous, Faye. It's past time you thought about your future and this is a perfect opportunity for you." She turned towards Sebastian. "Pay no mind to the words of my niece, Marquis. It is merely the folly of youth speaking."

"Of course," Sebastian agreed with a deferential nod of his head.

Faye being spoken about as though she was a child who needed her decisions made for her got her back up. "This is a decision that needs thinking about, not one to make lightly and in the heat of the moment" she said, striving to keep the anger from her voice. Aunt Francis would not react well to that. "Aside from that, I think it's time I left."

"Yes, quite," Sebastian agreed. "There's no more reason for you to be here, and I'm sure this night has been exciting enough. I shall escort you home."

For one wild moment, Faye felt affronted at the thought of a man trying to marry her being so forward as to invite himself to take a carriage to Phantomhive Manor with her. Then she remembered that Phantomhive Manor was, in fact, Sebastian's home as well.

Aunt Francis eyed them both before settling her eyes on Sebastian. "Lord Michaelis, while it is polite of you to offer to escort Lady Phantomhive home, I feel the need to remind you that if anything at all happens to my niece, you will answer to the Midfords." Despite herself, Faye felt warm at her Aunt's words. Both Ciel and Faye struggled to get alone with Aunt Francis and the ways the ways she chose to show her care for them, but she was family and did manage to show the fact that she loved her niece and nephew upon occasion. If only she wasn't so insistent on marrying Faye off. And possibly willing to let Faye go off with a stranger, depending on what cover story Sebastian had used for his appearance as a Marquis.

 **Phantomhive Carriage**

Faye wasted no time in asking Sebastian questions once they entered the carriage. "You called yourself Lord Michaelis at the ball. Does that mean you're still using your old persona? Just claiming that you're a Marquis now instead of a butler?"

"I'm still using the same name," Sebastian said with a nod. "But it would be an affront to the Phantomhive name for you to marry a man who worked as a butler, even if said butler was truly a Marquis. No, as far as anyone, including your aunt, believes, this is my first time in England."

"So you look exactly the same and have the same name, yet Aunt Francis didn't recognize you as Ciel's butler?"

"Really, my Lady," Sebastian said with a disappointed frown as he pulled Faye closer to him. "Is this all you can talk about? Are you not happy to see my return? Did my death mean nothing to you?"

"I—" Why did she seem to keep getting stuck on that infernal word? But as Faye looked into Sebastian's eyes, she couldn't think of anything to say. She _had_ missed him. The Phantomhive Manor hadn't felt like home without him. With Sebastian gone, she'd felt like she no longer had a stable place in the world. She'd been lost.

When Faye continued to look into Sebastian's eyes without saying anything, he cupped the back of her head and kissed her. Faye inhaled sharply, though her hands went straight to his hair. She loved the feel of his silky hair since the first time she'd touched it. Sebastian's free hand rubbed up and down Faye's back, pulling her closer to him. Now all she could think about was Sebastian. All she could taste, feel, and smell was Sebastian. Why did it feel like her world had just been put back in order?

Sebastian titled Faye's head and ran his tongue along the seam of her lips, urging her to open them. Faye pulled back with a gasp, her face red. Her hands moved from Sebastian's hair to grasp at his jacket. She stared at her hands as she stammered, "I wasn't happy you were gone. I mean, I didn't want you dead." She gave up in frustration before she started babbling. Why couldn't she honestly tell Sebastian her feelings? Was the hatred of demons that William T. Spears had installed in her so strong that she still couldn't admit out loud that she cared for a demon?

Sebastian moved the hand from Faye's head back to her chin, forcing her to look at him.

"I didn't mean to be callous with my questions," she explained. "Or insinuate that your absence meant nothing to me. I'm just—trying to process your return and find out what your story is so I don't make a mistake in talking to anyone about you."

Sebastian leaned down to gently kiss Faye's lips before pulling away. Maybe this was part of what had Faye so off-kilter. Sebastian had never been this affectionate with Faye before. Apparently, declaring himself a Marquis and proposing to her got rid of whatever bounds he'd felt were in place between thembefore. The thought that Sebastian could so easily affect Faye like this made her blush. She wasn't some twit of a girl to fall at the feet of every handsome man who confessed feelings for her.

"I am Sebastian Michaelis, a Marquis from Wales who has decided to come to Britain both to live and to marry," Sebastian explained. "No one will recognize me as the Phantomhive butler thanks to my powers, though I may seem familiar to some people. The exception I will make to this is the Phantomhive servants. I feel it would be confusing for you and Ciel to know of my former identity and for the rest of the household to view me as someone new. To them, my story is that I was a disinherited Marquis who was in hiding as a butler. Because of my love for you, I returned home and reclaimed my birthright so that I could marry you."

"I'm glad," Faye said quietly. "Everyone will be so happy to see you again. I'd hate for Finney, Bard, and Mey-Rin to still believe you dead when you were standing right in front of them. Everyone has missed you terribly."

"Really, my Lady?" Sebastian teased. "Everyone?"

Faye found herself unable to respond and cursed herself for being unable to be honest with Sebastian about her feelings.

 **Phantomhive Manor**

The whole family sat assembled in the sitting room, the nobles (including Sebastian) seated while their five servants stood. Sebastian held their rapt attention as he told his sad tale. "So then my father disowned me," Sebastian said, hanging his head in false shame. "I feared for my life and had no choice but to leave Wales. That was in I came across Lord Phantomhive and out of the goodness of his heart, he gave me a place to live."

Ciel ground his teeth in irritation as Sebastian spun his tale. He'd been relieved at the return of Sebastian, but he was _not_ pleased that he appeared to have lost his butler.

"I see," Finney said quietly, tears brimming in his eyes. "No wonder you always understood the young master so well. You were from the nobility too and must have felt the same as him. The two of you have twin hearts." Sebastian and Ciel both twitched at Finney's words, though Finney saw nothing since he was wiping his sleeve across his eyes.

"So, why did you leave so suddenly to go back to Wales and reclaim your station?" Bard asked, speaking around the unlit cigarette in his mouth. He was flabbergasted to learn that Sebastian, the head butler of Phantomhive Manor, was really Lord Sebastian, a Marquis from Wales. Sebastian's manners, tastes, and actions had always been impeccable. He'd know just what to do in every situation, but Bard never would have guessed that was because the man came from noble stalk himself.

Sebastian turned to look at Faye. "I fell in love," he said simply. Faye blushed and Ciel stiffened. Bard, Finney, and Mey-Rin gasped. Even Tanaka looked shocked. Emily, draped around Snake's shoulders, opened her mouth wide in what appeared to be a gasp of surprise. "I knew that we could not be together while I was a butler, so I returned home to take back the title that was rightfully mine. I could never have been with Lady Faye otherwise."

"That's so romantic," Mey-Rin said, clasping her hands together and swooning. She tried to push down the little bit of jealousy and sadness she felt. She'd sometimes let herself dream that she and Sebastian would have a tryst together, but they were just silly and girlish thoughts. She cared for both Faye and Sebastian and would love to see them happy together.

"Wow," Bard said, folding his arms and looking impressed. "So you went back to a country where people wanted you dead for the sake of our Lady. If that don't say love and devotion, I don't know what does."

"That's enough," Ciel said with a clap of his hands. "It's late and it's time for everyone to retire for the night."

The servants looked disappointed as they left, obviously wanting to hear more about Sebastian's story. Sebastian, Ciel, and Faye, however, did not go to bed. Instead, they went to Ciel's office.

"What is it you think you're playing at?" Ciel demanded once they were safely closed inside his office. "And of course you'd feel the need to choose a title one higher than the one I have."

Sebastian looked at Ciel like he was studying an interesting bug. "I feel that I've made my intentions perfectly clear, Lord Phantomhive. Of course, I'll still help you, simply in a slightly different capacity now. I have my own manor close by, but it will currently only be used for official functions as need be. Otherwise, I'll stay with the Phantomhives."

"Fine then," Ciel said, crossing his arms. "Go back to your old room."

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Lord Phantomhive," Sebastian said with a regretful shake of his head. "I am a Lord now and cannot possibly sleep in servants' quarters. You understand, I'm sure, that I must now be one hell of a Marquis."

Faye hid her smile behind her hand as Ciel glared dolefully at his former butler.

 **A/N:** I've spent the past two days doing a marathon rereading of Lady Phantomhive and Countess Phantomhive and planning out this third part of the series, so hopefully I'll be able to do updates around once a week.


	2. Head Butler

**A/N:** Thank you for the lovely reviews I received on the first chapter And thanks to all those who favorite/followed this story.

"Sister!" Soma exclaimed, his arms open wide. "It is so good to see you again! Thank you for inviting us to come."

"Of course, Soma," Faye said, accepting the Indian Prince's hug. "Thank you for coming on such short notice."

"We were more than happy to come," Agni said, putting his hands together and bowing. "It was such joyous news to hear that Sebastian, excuse me, Lord Sebastian was still alive." He turned to the man in question. "You are an even greater man that I thought, my friend, to humble yourself to serve as a butler to someone who was of a lower station than yourself, and then to return to your home country and reclaim your birthright so you may be with the one you love most."

"I haven't agreed to marry him yet," Faye said dryly, wondering how many times she'd have to repeat it before someone actually took note of it.

"Why have you brought so many bags?" Ciel asked, his eye widening in horror as Agni brought in enough luggage to cloth an entire caravan.

"We do not know how long we will be here for," Soma said, an innocent look on his face. "Until you are able to find another head butler, Agni will take Sebastian's place, as Faye requested. And replacing Sebastian will be a very hard task indeed. The only man on par with his skills is my own Agni." Soma paused, looking thoughtful as he rested one elbow on the opposite arm and tapped his chin. "There was one other though, I recall. The butler of Lord Trancy was fairly impressive. Is he available?"

"No," Faye, Ciel, and Sebastian all said at the same time.

At Soma's surprised look, Sebastian smiled graciously and said, "I'm afraid that Claude Faustus disappeared shortly after his master. I believe the rumors around London are that Claude killed Lord Trancy and then fled."

"Oh dear," Soma said, his eyes widening. "I had always liked the pair of them." He shrugged. "Well, it is of no matter. Agni and I will stay until you find a new head butler. It will be an opportunity for us to deepen our friendship even further, Ciel! It will be wonderful to live in the same house once again, will it not?"

Ciel smiled through gritted teeth, looking like he thought it was anything but wonderful. As usual, Soma was oblivious to Ciel's feelings and merrily followed Agni up the stairs to oversee the setting up of his room.

"Our contract is still in place," Ciel grumbled. "Which means you're still meant to serve me."

"I already followed through on my end of the contract," Sebastian said, smiling pleasantly. "All that's left of the contract is for me to eat your soul. The only reason that part of the contract has not been fulfilled is because of the deal I made with your sister. In essence, if you value having your death, so to speak, postponed, I belong to Faye now."

"I thought it was the other way around," Faye said with an arched eyebrow. "The specifics of the deal I remember all revolve around _you_ controlling _my_ life."

"You're still working to cultivate my soul," Ciel argued, ignoring his sister. He preferred not to think about the fact that Faye had been dragged into all this because of him. He'd never planned on his to deal with Sebastian affecting Faye since he'd believed her dead at the time the contract was made. And…he internally admitted that he didn't like the thought of Sebastian serving Faye instead of him. Even if he would no longer exist if Faye hadn't made a deal with Sebastian. "Doesn't that still entitle me to your half of the bargain of being served by you?"

Sebastian's eyes sharpened. "Well now, after all the trouble I've gone through with you I most certainly don't plan to allow your soul to become dull now, Master."

"My point exactly," Ciel said, crossing his arms. "You're still working on cultivating my soul, and I get what out of this, exactly?"

"You act as though I'm abandoning you," Sebastian said in amusement. "I'll still aid you in your endeavors as Earl and the Queen's watchdog. As your future brother-in-law, it would be indecent of me not to offer you all necessary aid for your success."

Ciel's eye twitched when Sebastian said 'brother-in-law'.

~.~

A week later, Faye watched from the top of the stairs as Mey-Rin carefully mopped the entrance hall. A moment later, Finney walked in carrying neatly trimmed flowers in a vase.

"Mr. Agni!" Finney called cheerfully. "I got the flowers for din—" His voice cut off abruptly as he slipped on the wet floor. "Oh no!" He cried, he eyes on the flowers as he toppled backward. He tucked the vase close to his body, protecting it from his fall. He scrunched his eyes closed, then dared to peek after his body hit the floor. "Hey, I saved—!" He began excitedly, looking at the vase in his hands. Then the fragile porcelain slowly cracked and shattered under Finney's strength, dumping dirt and flowers on him. "Oohhh. I almost saved it!"

Mey-Rin whirled around, one hand on her hip, the other grasping a mop. "Look what you've done now, Finney! I was almost done and you've tracked dirt everywhere. Look at this mess you've made." She took a few stomping steps toward Finney and put one foot right into her mop bucket. "Oh no!" Mey-Rin cried as she fell forward, dirty mop water spilling all over her and the floor.

Faye winced in sympathy at the sight, then heard a sigh from behind her.

"They still make such a mess of everything," Sebastian said, staring down the stairs with a disapproving look on his face.

"They're doing better," Faye argued. "Mey-Rin was almost able to successfully mop the entrance hall. And Finney did a good job of cutting and arranging the flowers. He probably would have made it all the way to the dining room if he hadn't slipped on the wet floor." She paused before adding, "Agni is much better at interpersonal skills than you. He really does a good job of training the other servants. If they continue to improve, they'll actually become competent at their jobs."

"I never needed to involve them," Sebastian argued. "I have the skills to accomplish everything myself and those three only got in the way. The most helpful servant of all was Tanaka, who never caused trouble and allowed me to do everything. And, the servants weren't really hired to perform menial tasks anyway. They were hired to protect the estate. That aside, didn't you and I already once have a conversation about you not comparing Agni and myself?"

"I was comparing your abilities to lead and train others as head butler," Faye said dryly, turning away from the sight of Agni coming to help Finney and Mey-Rin to face Sebastian. "I wasn't comparing the two of you as men."

"All the same," Sebastian said, picking up a lock of Faye's hair and running it between his gloved fingers. "I sought you out because I was wondering if we could talk, my Lady."

"All right," Faye said, following Sebastian to a sitting room.

He gestured for her to sit down first before taking the seat next to her. He studied her for a moment before asking, "What reason do you have to object to my offer?"

"Your offer?" Faye asked, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

"My offer to marry you," Sebastian reminded impatiently, taking Faye's chin in his hand and running his thumb across her lips. "Or had you already forgotten?"

"N-no," Faye stuttered, gently removing Sebastian's hand from her. She felt stupid for not immediately realizing what Sebastian had been talking about, but she'd felt so scatter-brained the whole past week. He probably thought she was being obtuse on purpose.

"You care for me," Sebastian went on. "Don't bother denying it at this point. I thought a great deal about this decision, and marrying me will allow you to maintain your place in society without losing face for not marrying, which is what would have happened under our previous arrangement. It also has the benefit of eliminating your aunt's attempts to find you a husband. I see no downside to this arrangement."

"Marriage involves more than just caring about the other person, Sebastian."

"Truly?" Sebastian asked, tilting his head as he watched Faye. "And here I was under the impression that humans often marry based on reasons having very little to do with caring about the other person. Humans in your position especially have a tendency to marry for money and power, both of which I have in abundance. Far more than any human man you'll ever meet."

Faye's eyes sparked in anger. "I am in a position of wealth and power where I do not need to rely upon the financial merits of a man to marry him," she said arrogantly. "I can marry based on other criteria and have no need for others to make marriage decisions for me." Faye's words echoed those she'd once spoken to her Aunt Frances. Although, she'd been a bit more polite during that conversation. She hadn't meant to say it, but the thought of someone else making choices for her infuriated Faye and put her on the defensive.

Sebastian's eyes glowed red. "You do _not_ have a choice in who you will marry. You will marry me or no one."

Faye's eyes narrowed. "I'm well aware of that, Sebastian." She stood and stalked from the room.

Sebastian sighed and did a very human gesture of frustration by putting his head into his hands. That conversation could have gone better.

He didn't know what was wrong with him. Ever since he'd returned from the nexus, his feelings for Faye seemed to have changed. Before, he'd been content to act as her butler and planned to slowly grow closer to her and get around her defenses. He'd seen no problem with living a life as Faye's lover and butler.

However, the moment he came out of the nexus, his plans changed. Rather than returning to Phantomhive Manor, he instead made plans to become a Marquis and took the time to arrange a title, contacts in Wales, and a fortune and estate worthy of his title. All, of course, with the intent of making Faye his wife. The concept should have seemed foreign to a demon like Sebastian. Demons didn't get married, unless such a thing somehow came up during the course of fulfilling a contract. But it was what he wanted. For Faye to be by his side, for her to be his. Completely and eternally.

He also wanted Faye to _want_ to be with him, but if she continued to refuse him…Well, that wasn't really _his_ problem now was it?

 **Ciel's Office**

Ciel stewed inside as he stared blankly at the reports of profits from his factory in India. He didn't like this. He didn't like _any_ of this at all, but he didn't know what to do about it. He hated the thought of Sebastian aiding him as anything but his butler, let alone as a man with a superior title to his. He was sure Sebastian would use it as an opportunity to look down on him even more.

He also didn't like the idea of Sebastian and Faye getting married. What in the world would that even look like? They wouldn't have children, would they? Could they even? He shuddered at the thought. Surely, Faye would never agree to such a thing. She hadn't even agreed to marry Sebastian yet.

Part of him wanted to talk to Faye about this. She'd hated Sebastian, and the very idea of demons, so much when she first came to live at Phatomhive Manor again. Had her feelings for Sebastian changed? Or had she just become better at hiding them? A bigger part of him had no desire to have any such conversation with Faye. He didn't want to know if his older sister had feelings for his demon butler turned Marquis. He also didn't want to know if Faye still despised Sebastian and had given her future away all for Ciel's sake.

If only he could find some way to keep Faye and Sebastian apart…


	3. William's Offer

**Phantomhive Manor**

"Where has Faye gone?" Soma asked, looking around. "I want to challenge her to a game of chess. Ciel said that he is too busy with work right now to play with me. He seems to be under much stress since Sebastian left him as his butler. I'm grateful that we are able to be here during this difficult time for Ciel and support him."

"Indeed," Agni said. "I am sure it is a great comfort to Lord Ciel to have good friends around as he is adjusting to his new circumstances. It would be a great blow to lose a servant of Lord Sebastian's caliber, though I am sure Lord Ciel is happy for his friend's change in circumstances. To answer your question, my Prince, Lady Faye is out shopping with Mey-Rin."

Soma deflated at this news, disappointed. "Oh well, perhaps I can ask Sebastian to play a game with me. I have not yet tested his skills at chess. I'm sure he would be a worthy opponent."

"I imagine so," Agni agreed. "And I believe that Sebastian is still here. He has most graciously been helping Lord Ciel with the Funtom Company and his other affairs."

"Yes, I have noticed this," Soma said, looking contemplative as he nodded. "You know, Sebastian mentioned having his own mansion, but I think I have yet to see him leave the Phantomhive Estate. He seems to spend all of his time here. I don't know that I've ever seen him go home."

Agni leaned closer to his prince and held up one hand to the side of his lips as he conspiratorially whispered, "I believe that he is staying here to woo Lady Faye into marrying him. He is most sincere in his affections for her and I hope that Lady Faye won't let Sebastian's previous station affect her decision of whether to marry him. She's always treated everyone fairly, regardless of their station. Lord Sebastian is a very capable and worthy man who would surely take great care of her."

Soma grinned. "Yes, I was thinking that very same thing myself. Sebastian says he is staying to help aid Ciel, but I think Faye may have more to do with his presence here than her little brother." He gave a contented sigh. "It is delightful to see two of our wonderful friends developing a closer relationship, is it not?"

"Yes," Agni nodded. "It is amazing how life turns out sometimes. Events that we cannot see or fathom are guided by the hands of the gods. If Sebastian had become the butler to another noble, he might never have fallen in love and reclaimed his birthright as a Marquis. Surely, their union is one that was predetermined by the gods."

 **London**

"Look at that lovely shawl, my Lady!" Mey-Rin exclaimed, pointing at a shop window. "It would look perfect with your light blue dress. Shall we go inside?"

Faye stifled a laugh as she looked at the frightening shade of purple Mey-Rin was pointing at. She didn't know if Mey-Rin simply had no taste for color matching, or if her poor vision didn't allow her to see the real shade of items. Regardless, whenever Mey-Rin laid out clothing for Faye, she regularly had to switch out items. Sage green did _not_ go with sky blue and purple and burgundy would never match, no matter how many times Mey-Rin tried to get Faye to wear that combination to parties.

Still, this was exactly the distraction Faye had been hoping for and she was still down a shawl from way back when William stole hers to use in his spell against Sebastian. Sebastian had then proceeded to keep the shawl, a fact that Faye found out when she helped bring some motherless kittens to his old room.

"By all means," Faye agreed, letting Mey-Rin lead the way. The Phantomhive Estate felt stifling to her right now and she'd simply wanted an opportunity to get a way for a while. Sebastian hadn't seemed pleased to let Faye and Mey-Rin go off shopping, but he'd had no real reason to object.

On the one hand, marrying Sebastian seemed to make sense in a way, and Faye couldn't deny that she'd been lost when she thought him dead and gone. On the other hand, Faye couldn't help but still feel blindsided by all this. Surely, marrying a demon required a myriad of considerations (Would he use his magic to make his human form age as she aged? She wouldn't be expected to have his children, would she? Would they actually live like a semi-normal married noble couple? Would they have to hire servants to keep up appearances?). Part of her also felt resentful. She'd already given up so much of her life to protect Ciel. Why should she let Sebastian dictate that she marry him as well?

Faye pushed those thoughts from her mind as Mey-Rin made a beeline for the shawl she'd been eyeing in the window. She was here to forget about Phantomhive Manor and everything going on there for a little while. She was also here to prevent Mey-Rin from making terrible shawl choices, Faye thought as she as she hurried after her servant and friend.

An hour later, the two women left the shop with three shawls for Faye and two for Mey-Rin. Mey-Rin had protested vehemently against Faye buying anything for her, saying that she was only present to help Faye. Faye had insisted and Mey-Rin's cheeks were flushed with embarrassed pleasure as they looked for a place to obtain lunch.

Faye turned to say something to Mey-Rin and frowned when she realized the maid was no longer beside her. They had somehow gotten separated in the crowd. Faye looked around for wine colored hair, knowing it shouldn't be that difficult to spot her friend when her eyes landed on someone entirely unexpected. A tall man with a serious face and glasses stood a few feet away from Faye, looking at her expectantly.

"William," Faye said in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

William adjusted his glasses as he watched Faye carefully. "I'm sure you recall the matter of souls reappearing on the Grim Reapers' lists and their bodies reanimating."

Faye raised her eyebrows. "You mean the zombies being raised by Undertaker in a psychotic attempt to circumvent death? Yes, I do vaguely recall something of that nature."

William gave her a stern look at her sarcastic response. "The zombie threat is growing larger. All our attempts to capture Undertaker and stop his work have failed. The number of zombies and zombie attacks grows every week." He straightened his already perfect posture, looking like the very picture of formality. "The Grim Reaper Dispatch Society would like to request your aid in this matter, Faye Phantomhive."

Faye stared at William in shock. She'd worked as an associate of the Dispatch Society for three years and enjoyed it, but had not worked with them again since returning to Phantomhive Manor. Even when Faye and William had crossed each other's paths while investigating Noah's Ark Circus, William had refused to work with Faye and the basis that he would not sully himself by cooperating with a demon. Obviously, anything that involved Faye would also involve Sebastian and Ciel.

"Why come to me for help now?" Faye asked. Were things really so desperate that they needed Faye's help regardless of the strings that might be attached?

"There is still a great deal more you could learn to do with your powers," William said, adjusting his glasses again. "There are spells I did not teach you because they were not relevant at the time, but you could be a great asset in combating Undertaker's reanimated abominations. And…I heard that your…demon problem took care of itself, leaving you the freedom to aid the grim reapers."

Faye nodded slowly, understanding dawning. "I'm afraid your information is outdated, William. Sebastian did disappear into a nexus between our world and his own with the demon Claude during a fight. He was gone for weeks and Ciel and I both presumed him dead, but we were mistaken. After three weeks of absence, Sebastian reappeared as a nobleman. So you see, my 'demon problem' is still very much a part of the Phantomhive's lives."

William blinked, his outward appearance showing none of the guilt he felt inside. For a demon playing the role of a butler to randomly disappear for three weeks and suddenly reappear as a nobleman made no sense…except in this case. The only logical reason for such a thing would be if Sebastian did this to make Faye his more fully. With the differences in their station before, any relationship between them would have to be clandestine. For the demon to go this far…

To Faye's surprise, William bowed to her. "I'm sorry, Faye. I am truly sorry for putting you in this position. As you know, I never intended for any of this to happen. I never intended for the demon to get near you." He rose from his bow and studied Faye again. "If you rejoined the Grim Reaper Dispatch Society and aided us against the zombies and Undertaker, it would take you out of the demon's grasp. The Dispatch Society would protect you from him."

William's offer tempted Faye. Not because she felt a need to be 'protected' from Sebastian, but because the idea of the zombies terrified her. She still remembered the horrified and haunted look on Ciel's face when he returned from first encountering zombies at Weston College. She wanted Undertaker to be stopped and his horrible experiments eliminated, but she wasn't willing to leave Ciel. And William would never accept help from the Phantomhives if Sebastian was involved, and so long as Faye lived at Phantomhive Manor, Sebastian would be involved.

"I'm sorry, William," Faye said sincerely. "I would like to help, but my family comes first. I need to stay with Ciel."

William adjusted his glasses, trying to think up a polite response. Finally he said, "I'd like to say I understand Faye, but I don't. The matter of the dead being brought back to a half form of life is too dire to ignore."

"I agree with you," Faye said, shrugging helplessly. "But my situation is what it is, and, need I remind you, partially one of your making. If you think of a way I can help the reapers without getting directly involved, I would be more than happy to offer my aid."

William nodded once before turning and quickly disappearing into the London crowd.

 **Phantomhive Manor**

By the time Faye and Mey-Rin returned home, it was nearly evening. The moment they walked into the mansion, they were bombarded by Soma and Agni.

"Please, my Lady, this way," Agni said, leading Faye toward the dining room as Soma pulled Mey-Rin up the stairs.

"Come, come," Soma urged Mey-Rin. "We must be out of the way—I mean, you must put Faye's things away in her room, yes?"

Faye craned her neck to look back at Soma, wondering what he was talking about.

"Do not worry about Prince Soma and your brother," Agni said, gently directing Faye's attention forward again. "I have already prepared their dinner and they will be dining upstairs."

"Dining upstairs?" Faye asked, confused. "Why are they—" Her question was answered when she walked into the dining room and saw an intimate setting for two laid out. Soma and Agni were playing matchmaker between her and Sebastian. Faye felt a flare of annoyance that she was apparently under siege in her own home. As much as she cared for Agni and Soma, she did _not_ appreciate their interference on this matter.

Back when Faye was a member of the Dispatch Society, she had more freedom than probably almost any other woman in England. Freedom to learn how to throw and fight with knives without being told it wasn't ladylike. Freedom to dress in more comfortable, more _practical_ ,clothing without being told it wasn't appropriate attire for a woman of her station. Freedom to decide whether or not getting married was the right choice for her. Of course, it had also been extremely lonely and isolating at times. Proper grim reapers were supposed to work at being emotionless, which did not lead to them being the best of social companions much of the time.

Faye's thoughts were interrupted when an arm wrapped around her waist from behind and a voice purred in her ear, "Is dinner not to your liking, my Lady? If you would prefer something else, I'm sure I could arrange it." He paused. "Or perhaps you had not yet taken your seat because you were waiting for me?"

Faye shivered, a blush appearing on her face. It was much easier to disparage the idea of marrying Sebastian when he wasn't touching her. When he was this close, she struggled to think about anything other than him.

"N-no," Faye said, hating the stutter in her voice. "Dinner looks fine." She was sure her stutter was because Sebastian was treating her differently. He was more open in showing affection for her now and it set her off-kilter. Too open, by social standards, but his excuse was that no butler/noble woman barrier existed between them now.

"Then by all means," Sebastian said, still speaking in Faye's ear as he ran one hand down Faye's arm until his fingers entangled with hers, "please take your seat, my Lady." He led her to a chair, pulling it out for her before taking his own seat.

Faye watched him curiously, realizing that she'd never seen Sebastian eat before. Nobility did not dine with servants, after all. "Do you need to eat?" She asked. "I mean, human food?" Demons ate souls, but did they require other sustenance? And how often did they need to eat? Sebastian had served Ciel for years, giving the impression that demons could at least go years without eating a human soul.

"I can eat," he said, demonstrating this by putting a forkful of potato into his mouth and swallowing. "But no, I do not need human food. However, it would be unthinkably rude to spurn the food Agni made specifically for the two of us. And it would also be ill-mannered of me to expect you to dine alone."

It felt odd and awkward to eat with Sebastian at first since Faye had never done so, nor ever expected do so. However, after a little bit of time it felt almost normal for them to dine together as Sebastian asked Faye if her shopping trip with Mey-Rin was successful and Faye asked Sebastian about his work with the Funtom Company. She could almost imagine them doing this on a regular basis.


	4. Queen Victoria

**Phantomhive Manor**

"Excuse me, Lord and Lady Phantomhive," Agni said, bowing as he entered Ciel's office. "There is a man named John Brown here to see you."

Ciel and Faye exchanged puzzled looks. John Brown, as Queen Victoria's personal bodyguard, was a frequent visitor to Phantomhive Manor. He was often the one who brought the Phantomhives their assignments as the Queen's Watchdogs. However, he rarely spoke to the Phantomhive siblings in the process. He always handed the assignment to Sebastian or Tanaka, who then brought it to Ciel. Why would John want to speak with them?

"Well," Sebastian said with a clap of his hands. "We must hurry then, mustn't we? It wouldn't do to keep the Queen's personal messenger waiting. Doubtless his news is important if he wishes to speak with the Phantomhive siblings directly."

Ciel ground his teeth. "Would you stop acting as though you have authority to run things around here? _I_ am Lord of this manor, not you. You're not even head butler anymore."

Agni wisely chose to duck out of the room. As much as he wanted to help his friends through this difficult transition, he thought it best he stay out of conversations such as the one beginning in Ciel's office. He thought the best help he could give was to smooth things over by acting as head butler to the best of his abilities.

Sebastian gave Ciel a look that was half pitying, half chastising. "Indeed you are Lord of this manor, my Master, which is why _you_ should be the one prioritizing Mr. Brown's message rather than sitting here arguing silly semantics. As your future brother-in-law, it is my duty to ensure that you grow into the best Earl you are capable of becoming. That at times may require for me to take charge of the situation or to reprimand you in front of the help." He raised his eyebrows. "Of course, if you chose to behave as you know is befitting one of your station on your own, there would be no need for my involvement at all."

Fists and teeth clenched, Ciel stood and stormed passed Sebastian. "Come, Faye. We need to see what the Queen's emissary wants."

Sebastian smiled pleasantly as he followed along behind Faye.

"Good morning, Mr. Brown," Sebastian greeted congenially when the trio reached the front entryway. "What brings you here today?" Sebastian's purposeful welcoming of their guest before Ciel made Ciel grind his teeth even harder. He would be lucky to have any teeth left after this ordeal was over. Of course, with Sebastian planning to marry Faye it looked this ordeal might _never_ be over.

"Good morning," John replied curtly, dark glasses covering his eyes, as usual. He stood at stiff attention next to the doors, a letter in his hand.

"Would you like to move to the sitting room?" Faye asked hesitantly, surprised that Agni had not already offered. It seemed poor etiquette to allow the personal emissary of the Queen to simply stand around waiting for the Phantomhives.

"No thank you," John said, holding up a hand and shaking his head. "My horse is waiting right outside, you see." He opened the door a little so that Faye could see that, indeed, his horse was waiting _right_ outside. On the porch. "It would be rude to go so far away from him while he is waiting on me, and this won't take more than a moment."

"R-right," Faye said, wondering if John had ridden his horse onto the porch. Then she remembered John's preference for _not_ riding his beloved horse.

"What is it?" Ciel asked, his voice a little more snappish than usual. "Does the Queen have a special assignment for us?"

John waited a moment before answering. "Of a sort," he hedged. "But this is a matter her Majesty would prefer to discuss with you in person. The Phantomhives are invited to have tea with her Majesty this afternoon." He held a letter out and Ciel stepped forward to take it.

John left a moment later, after getting Ciel's confirmation that they would be there.

~.~

 **Buckingham Palace**

"Who is this man and why is he here?" John Brown demanded when Faye, Ciel, and Sebastian stood outside the room they normally met the Queen in. "The invitation was for Lord and Lady Phantomhive only."

"The invitation was for the members of the Phanomhive household," Sebastian corrected. "And as Lady Phantomhive's fiancé, I am, by extension, a member of that rather select group." Faye's eyebrow twitched when Sebastian said fiancé, but now was not the time to argue that point.

"Sebastian is practically part of the family," Faye said, employing all her acting skills so as to not grit her teeth. "He wishes to be involved in _all_ the work of the Phantomhive family, as such, he should meet the Queen and gain her approval."

John's face was inscrutable behind his dark glasses, but he eventually went into the room and held a whispered conversation with the Queen before reappearing. "Very well," he allowed. "The Queen has given her permission for this man to enter."

The three followed John into the room and Faye curtseyed while Sebastian and Ciel bowed.

"I did not know you were engaged, Faye," Queen Victoria said standing by a window and, looking at Sebastian with interest. "When did this happen and to whom are you engaged to?"

"It's a rather recent development," Sebastian said, stepping forward. "I am Marquis Michaelis from Wales. I have been acquainted with the Phantomhives for some time and decided I should make my association with them permanent. Both they and their work mean a great deal to me. As you may have heard, they recently lost their butler and are in need of some aid in their work as watchdogs. If you would permit it, your Majesty, I would very much appreciate being able to help them in their duties serving the crown."

Queen Victoria raised her eyebrows as Sebastian spoke, surveying him with intelligent eyes. Finally, she turned to Ciel and asked, "What do you think, Earl? Do you recommend this Marquis to me?"

"Yes, your Majesty, I do," Ciel said, giving the Queen a bow. "He has proved both resourceful and loyal. His association with the Phantomhives has been a great benefit to us and I believe would be a great benefit to our work as watchdogs." Inside, Ciel was seething. First, he'd lost his butler. Then said butler returned as a _Marquis,_ one title above Ciel. Next he declared he intended to marry Ciel's only sister. Now, Ciel was forced to sing Sebastian's praises to the Queen. He hated doing it, but they did need Sebastian's help and it would be more convenient if they had the Queen's permission to bring Sebastian in on their work as watchdogs.

Queen Victoria nodded. "All right, Lord Michaelis, you have my permission to aid the Phantomhives in their work for me. I think very highly of the Earl's opinion, and if he's willing to vouch for you, I will accept it."

"Thank you, your Majesty," Sebastian said, dropping into a deep bow. "Your approval in this matter means a great deal to me."

"Now then," the Queen said, turning on her heel and walking to an armchair. "Now that that's settled, everyone take a seat and we can discuss why I called you here today."

Ciel, Sebastian, and Faye sat across from the Queen with Sebastian in the middle. The Queen sat primly for a few moments with her hands clasped in her lap. Finally, she began speaking. "Four years ago, there was an attempt made upon my life. John Brown secreted me away with the intent of keeping me safe while he discovered who was behind the assassination attempt. However, soon after we left the palace, an imposter took my place with a white-haired guard at her side. No matter how hard John Brown tried, he could not harm or gather any information on the imposter or the white-haired guard."

Faye's eyes widened. Queen Victoria was talking about Ash, the fallen angel who'd tried to destroy the city and kill Ciel. This meant that the teenage "queen" who'd arranged for the death of her and Ciel's parents had been an imposter, as Faye had wondered. She must have been a puppet put on the throne by Ash and Angela, the other fallen angel involved in a scheme to 'purify' England.

"John Brown and I were in the middle of creating plans to expose the imposter and put me back on the throne, but before we could put our final plans into action, we heard quiet rumors that the queen had been killed, so John and I returned." She paused to give Ciel and Faye a piercing stare. "I assume the two of you played a part in that and were able to accomplish what my John could not. Thank you."

Faye and Ciel both murmured something in reply. Technically speaking, Ash was the one who'd killed the false queen, but Sebastian had killed Ash as well as Angela with Faye's help, so they _had_ helped to put Queen Victoria back on the throne.

"I need the Phantomhive's help in an urgent matter once more. What happened four years ago must not be repeated. In order to ensure that such a thing does not happen again, in order to protect England from its enemies, I want, I need undead soldiers."

Faye heard a roaring in her ears as her blood ran cold. The Queen could not be serious. She couldn't really know what the undead abominations were like and desire them as her soldiers. Queen Victoria was either naive about the situation, or had gone mad.

"I order the Phantomhives to apprehend the man known as Undertaker or to obtain the secret of the undead for me."

Ciel stared at the Queen in stunned disbelief, wondering if she had somehow misunderstood his report about the mindless killing _things_ he'd found at Weston College.

"I-I'm not sure that will be possible," Faye said, amazed she could talk calmly despite the horror she felt.

Queen Victoria raised her eyebrows. "The Phantomhives are all about accomplishing the impossible, are they not? Will you fail me now after all this time? When your country so desperately needs you?"

The trio left soon after, exchanging goodbyes with the Queen. They passed Charles Phipps and Charles Grey on their way out, the latter gave Sebastian a very suspicious look. Faye wondered if the two Charles knew about the Queen's plans with the zombies and if they approved.

Once they were in the carriage, Faye asked, "What do you think, Ciel? What should we do now?"

"I don't know," Ciel said, looking out the window with a troubled expression. "I was willing to hand Undertaker to the Queen when I thought the Queen wanted to put an end to him. Now..." Ciel trailed off. "I should have known better from the beginning. The Queen never eliminates anyone herself. She always sends the Phantomhives to do it."

"We can't hand him over," Faye argued. "If Undertaker can't control his undead creations, the Queen certainly won't be able to. The only thing that will happen is death and chaos. Undertaker and his zombies need to be stopped, not reproduced."

"Well, the grim reapers are looking into this problem, aren't they?" Ciel asked Faye. "Undertaker was one of their own and names reappearing on the death list must be a serious issue for the reapers. This is a problem outside the Phantomhives realm. Let the reapers handle this and we'll come up with an excuse to tell the Queen."

Faye guiltily thought of William coming to her to ask for help. If The Grim Reaper Dispatch Society had the situation handled, he wouldn't have come to her. He said that the problem was getting worse, that there were more zombies appearing all the time. Everyone had completely struck out against Undertaker so far. Even Sebastian hadn't been able to capture him.

Not for the first time, Faye wondered what would happen if the grim reapers and the Phantomhives (including Sebastian) combined their forces. Surely all of them together stood a better chance of stopping Undertaker…but Faye seemed to be the only person in that equation interested in working with the others. The grim reapers would never lower themselves to work with a demon and they were none too fond of Ciel either. And Sebastian despised the grim reapers at least as much as they despised him. If only Faye had the ability to talk some sense into the beings around her.


	5. New Assignment

**A/N:** A long chapter! But…no Faye and Sebastian interaction, sadly. I swear it's coming…kind of…What's romance without a little drama first, right?

 **Phantomhive Manor**

"Excuse me, Lady Phantomhive," Tanaka said, entering the sitting room and bowing. "I have a letter for you and Lord Phantomhive from the Queen."

"Let me see it," Faye said, narrowing her eyes and holding her hand out. They had seen the Queen just last week. Had something else happened with the undead or was the letter about something else? Perhaps the Queen did not feel the Phantomhive siblings placed the same import on the zombie situation as she did.

To Faye's relief, the letter was entirely unrelated to the realm of the undead. It was a normal assignment for the Queen's Watchdogs. Young women, a mix of noble and peasant, were going missing around a particular dock. There was also speculation that an increase of disappearing women in the surrounding town might be the fault of whoever was taking women from the dock.

Faye stared off into space as she thought. Ciel and Sebastian were out on business for the Funtom Company (Sebastian now accompanying Ciel as a fellow gentlemen rather than his butler) and Ciel had warned Faye they might have to stay in London a few days. In the meantime, more women might be kidnapped, and who knew what was happening to them. Faye knew very well what _could_ be happening to them, and she couldn't stomach the idea of allowing kidnapped young women to wallow in misery for even a day longer than necessary if there was something she could do about it.

On the other hand, she wasn't nearly as capable as Sebastian. He could get information in minutes that it would take Faye hours to get. Plus, he would be furious if Faye walked into a dangerous situation without him around. They'd had many arguments over that exact issue. Faye felt rebellious in reaction to that thought. No, she wasn't as capable as Sebastian, but she'd worked for the Grim Reapers for three years, hadn't she? She'd helped track down and capture many dangerous and rogue spirits. She was hardly a normal human with only her wits to rely on. She had magic. Magic that she'd used increasingly less with Sebastian able to do all the hard work, but she still had it.

Faye was a former associate of the Grim Reapers and the Queen's Watchdog. More than that, she was a Phantomhive. Her father, grandfather, and great-grandfather had all done this work without the aid of a demon, and so could she. She crumpled the paper in her hand, her resolve crystalizing.

"Mey-Rin!" She called, getting up and leaving the sitting room. "Mey-Rin!"

Out in the hall she found Snake. "Snake, do you know where Mey-Rin is?"

The black snake curled around Snake's shoulders lifted his head and flicked his tongue out. "Mey-Rin is in the servants' quarters changing sheets, says Woodsworth," Snake said, staring at the ground as he spoke.

"Thank you, Snake," Faye said before striding down the hallway.

"Wait," Snake called. Faye stopped in surprise and turned to see Snake staring at the letter in her hand. Or, more particularly, at the royal seal on the letter. "Is Danger going on an assignment for the Queen without Smile and Black, Woodsworth wonders?" Snake asked, using the names Faye, Ciel, and Sebastian used when they infiltrated Noah's Ark Circus.

"Yes," Faye said, clutching the letter tighter. "I don't know how long Sebastian and Ciel will be gone for and this situation requires immediate attention. I'm taking Mey-Rin with me."

Snake stared at the letter in silence, his eyes growing more and more concerned. Faye was just about to leave when Snake blurted, "Woodsworth wants to come. And Emily. And Oscar. And Wilde."

Faye's eyebrows rose as Snake spoke. She knew that Snake somehow communicated with his slithery friends, but Emily, Oscar, and Wilde weren't there to make their opinion known, meaning that Snake was concerned about Faye going on an assignment without Sebastian and Ciel. Faye's heart melted at this rare show of affection from Snake. "All right, Snake. They can come too."

Snake relaxed and nodded before following Faye to the servants' quarters to get Emily, Oscar, and Wilde. Faye went next door to Finney's room where Mey-Rin was changing the sheets.

"Mey-Rin, I need your help."

"Yes, my Lady?" Mey-Rin asked, turning to look at Faye in surprise. "What is it? Is there a sudden party you need help getting ready for this evening?" She looked excited at the prospect.

"No, Mey-Rin," Faye said. "That's not the kind of help I need from you." She held up the letter. "The Queen has a new assignment for the Phantomhives and Ciel and Sebastian are going to be away for a while. I'm not willing to wait."

Mey-Rin's eyes turned deadly serious before she looked uncertain. "But, my Lady, I don't think the Lords would approve of you going out without them. It's usually the three of you together, and the Earl and Sebas-I mean, Lord Michaelis are quite protective of you."

"There are women going missing, Mey-Rin. They're being kidnapped and I don't know why. If I wait for Ciel and Sebastian, people may die who I could save if I left now. Are you willing to come with me or not?"

The two women stared at each other before Mey-Rin gave a deep curtsy. "Yes, my Lady." Lady Faye had never asked for Mey-Rin's help with something like this before. Mey-Rin would not fail her.

~.~

 **The Docks**

Snake, Mey-Rin, and Faye, dressed as a peasant, stood in the shadow between two warehouses, nearly impossible to see from the main walkways of the docks. They'd arrived a few hours ago. Since then, Woodsworth, Emily, Oscar, and Wilde had been investigating each of the warehouses for the missing women.

Mey-Rin shivered when Emily came slithering up. Despite how long Snake had been part of the Phantomhive household, Mey-Rin still wasn't used to the serpents and refused to ever go into Snake's room.

Snake kneeled down and held his arm out for Emily. She curled around his arm as she glided upward, hissing all the while. "Ah," Snake said, his eyes widening. "The women are being kept in the warehouse with the yellow doors, says Emily. There are cages and locks and men keeping guard. And…Emily says Oscar was with her and is bringing something else."

A moment later, Oscar appeared. He was harder to pick out than Emily in the dark light and Faye only noticed him when he was nearly to them. Oscar unfurled his tail and handed something to Snake. He looked it over before handing it to Faye. "Oscar says this looked important, but he doesn't know what it's for."

Faye looked the paper over and gasped. "It's a cargo list for the warehouse Emily found the girls in. It doesn't say anything about the girls, but it lists shipments with weights similar to what young women would weigh…I think the group that's kidnapping the girls are human traffickers. They plan to sale those girls as slaves if I'm right—and the shipment is scheduled to leave tonight."

"What are we going to do, my Lady?" Mey-Rin asked.

Faye looked up at the setting sun. The shipment wasn't scheduled to leave until midnight, doubtless so it could be done under the cover of darkness. That meant they still had a few hours, but Faye didn't want to waste any time.

"I'm going to let them capture me," Faye said. "Mey-Rin, do you know the best place for you to set-up outside the warehouse?"

Mey-Rin paused before answering. "My Lady, I think _I_ should be the one they capture, not you. If anything were to happen to you—" She cut herself off. Aside from Mey-Rin's own personal fear of anything happening to Lady Faye, whom she loved, the thought of what Sebastian and Ciel would do to her if she let any harm come to Lady Faye terrified her.

Faye shook her head. "I'm not a sniper like you, Mey-Rin. I need you to be on the outside and I have to be the one to go in and verify that I'm actually correct. We have to be sure of their intentions before we can decide how much force to use against them. Once we know for sure what's going on, we'll take them down."

Snake looked forlorn at being left out of the plan. Faye put a hand on his shoulder. "Thank you, Snake. Without the help of you and your serpents, we might not have found the right warehouse in time." She leaned over and kissed his head, causing a bright patch of red to appear on his cheeks.

The next moment, Oscar raised his head and stared at Faye. She blinked at him, wondering if he was feeling protective or jealous over Snake, but then Snake said, "Oscar says he helped too."

Faye's eyes widened at the implications of that statement and Mey-Rin's jaw dropped in outrage. "I-I guess he did. We wouldn't have found out about the ship or the human trafficking without Oscar's help." Trying not to cringe, Faye laid a gentle kiss on Oscar's head. He settled back down around Snake. It was…kind of charming that the snake wanted thanks too…also a little odd. Just how much did Snake's serpents understand? She shook the thought off. Now wasn't the time to be wondering about that.

"All right, I'm going. I'll see you two seen."

"Good luck, my Lady," Mey-Rin called after her.

Faye walked along the docks as though out for a stroll to get some fresh air and see the ocean. Night had almost fallen and Faye had to keep reminding herself to act timid and "ladylike" as she walked rather than use her normal confident stride. It was not in her nature to play the victim.

After a little while, two clean-shaven men approached Faye, friendly and concerned looks on their face. "Excuse me, Miss," one of them said. "You might not want to be walking the docks after dark. There are some shady characters around here."

"There are?" Faye asked, a fake look of concern on her face with just the right amount of nervousness thrown in. She cast a look at the nearly set sun. "I didn't realize how late it was. The time got away from me."

The other man nodded sympathetically. "We understand, but we'd hate it if something happened to a nice girl like you because you were in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"What do you mean?" Faye asked in a breathy tone.

"We'd like to escort you home, if that's all right, Miss," the first man said, his eyes earnest. "We have a carriage not too far from here."

"All right," Faye agreed. Internally, she felt disbelieving that girls actually fell for this. What kind of sheltered lives did they live that they'd walk off with two strange men? Even the men did look like nice people. Then again, maybe some of the girls _hadn't_ walked off with them and were simply dragged off if they didn't go along willingly.

The men lead Faye exactly where she'd expected. The warehouse with painted yellow doors.

"Why are we coming here?" She asked.

"Our carriage is inside," one of the men explained. "We work around here and our boss lets us store the carriage in the warehouse when there's room. Otherwise, it might get stolen."

They walked into a dark room with cement flooring and Faye tensed. This room looked empty, though she couldn't see into the corners of the room. Once the door was shut, the two men jumped forward, each clamping onto one of her arms. Faye let out a fake scream as they began dragging her into the adjacent room.

The next room was brightly lit and each side had rows of cages containing young women. "Boss!" One of the men called. "We got one more for the shipment."

A well-dressed middle-aged man appeared with two men in dark clothing behind him. He stroked his mustache as he looked Faye over. The look was far too familiar and made her skin crawl. She comforted herself with the thought that the man would soon be dead. "Mmm, yes, this one is a lovely specimen. She ought to fetch a good price."

"What's going on here?" She demanded in a frightened voice, struggling weakly against her captors.

They dragged her closer to their boss and he grinned down at her before grabbing one of her arms. The other men let go. They believed Faye wasn't a threat. They thought she was weak and outnumbered. The boss only held onto one of her arms. "You're going to be sold overseas along with the rest of these women, my dear. And make my friends and me a lot of money in the process."

Faye dropped the look of fear. "That's exactly what I was hoping to hear." The boss's eyes widened in surprise and the next moment, he had a knife at his throat. His grip on her arm loosened and she jerked it free, spreading her fingers wide and chanting, "It mye noc." Her voice resonated with power and brightly colored strings flew from her fingers to wrap around the four other men.

"What the—!"

"What's going on?!"

That was all the men got out before there was the sound of a gunshot and shattering glass, and then their boss dropped to the ground, dead. Within moments, the four goons joined him. More men came out from other rooms and the caged women started screaming. One by one, each of the men fell.

When no more men came out, Mey-Rin climbed in through the window she'd been shooting through. "See if any of these men have a key to the cages on them," Faye ordered Mey-Rin. "I'll check the other rooms."

Mey-Rin nodded and went to work. Faye ignored the frightened stares of the trapped women as she walked to the back of the warehouse and entered what looked like an office. She stopped in surprise when she found a man pointing a gun at her.

"I don't know what's goin' on out there," he said, a dark, wild look in his eyes. "But it ain't gonna get me."

Faye was calculating her chances of getting to one of her knives or using her magic before this man fired his gun when movement behind the man caught her attention. Faye smiled. "I'd be more concerned about what was behind me than what was out there if I were you."

The man narrowed his eyes suspiciously, but yelled out the next moment when Woodsworth lunged forward and bit his leg. Faye threw a knife into the man's arm and his gun clattered across the floor.

Faye grabbed the gun before holding one arm down for Woodsworth to crawl up. "My, oh my," she said with false sympathy. "A bite from a black mamba is usually lethal, and I doubt any doctors in England have the antidote for a poisonous snake from Africa. I'd say you have…under an hour before you collapse and less than half a day before your dead. If you hurry, maybe you can find a nice place to lay down to die."

The man stared up at Faye and Woodsworth in horror. "Or, if you wanted to tell me where the keys to the cages are, I'll give you a quick death if you prefer."

Rather than answering, the man pulled Faye's knife out of his arm with a wince and began running for the door. With a sigh, Faye held out her free arm and chanted, "Horestm kit mic." Colored strings flowed from Faye's hand to the man's heart and mind. He fell into a trance as the spell to force the truth out of a person took its hold. "Where is the key to the cages in the next room?" She demanded.

"They're in the bottom drawer of the desk, hidden in a false bottom," the man said in a monotone voice.

Faye went to the desk, pulling out the bottom drawer and messing with it until she discovered the false bottom. When she found a heavy golden key, she released her spell. The man stumbled and looked around in confusion before tearing out of the room. A second later, Faye heard a gunshot. The man had apparently forgotten why he'd been hiding in the office in the first place. "Looks like he got a quick death after all, Woodsworth," Faye murmured. The snake hissed softly in response.

Faye handed the key to Mey-Rin to free the women when she realized the giant snake wrapped around her neck and shoulders was frightening the already terrified women even more.

"Wh-who are you?" One of them asked shakily. The freed women stood in a huddle, their terrified eyes jumping from Mey-Rin, to Faye and Woodsworth, to the dead bodies.

"England's underground knight," Faye said in a dry voice. There was no need to explain about the Queen's Watchdog to people who weren't part of England's criminal underbelly. These women were just victims. "My companion and I can escort all of you home—"

"No!" One of the women exclaimed in horror. "We-we can manage on our own."

Faye pursed her lips. The women obviously thought Faye and Mey-Rin were at least as scary as their captors, but Faye wasn't comfortable letting these women walk home in the dark. She went outside to find Snake, asking him to contact Scotland Yard and handing him Woodsworth. Arthur Randell could handle things from here and get all these girls home safely.

When Faye came back into the room, Mey-Rin was freeing the last young woman, but rather than joining the huddled mass of frightened victims, she stayed by Mey-Rin's side. "Scotland Yard will be here soon," Faye announced. "They can take your statements and make sure you all get home safely."

The women looked at each other in confusion, obviously assuming that people who came in firing guns and wielding knives were not people who could contact Scotland Yard and ask them to drop by.

"Why are you standing over here?" Faye asked the lone woman with a raised eyebrow.

The woman stood tall, though Faye noticed that her hands were trembling. "I have no home to return to," she announced quietly. "I wasn't kidnapped by these men, I was sold to them. I am from the nobility, but my father always wanted a son and was shamed to have a daughter instead. He thinks women are worthless and only exist as property and to benefit men. He told me the only value I had to him was to be sold as a slave so that I'd at least be useful to someone."

Faye stared at the woman in horror. She wanted to add the woman's father to tonight's list of victims. "What's your name?"

"Annabelle."

Faye folded her arms as she stared at Annabelle, not sure what to do with her. Obviously she couldn't be brought back to her family, but where else could this woman go? "Do you have any other family?" Faye asked.

"None who wouldn't return me to my father," Annabelle said with a shake of her head. She flushed before saying, "I want to be like you! I want to be like both of you and learn how to defend myself so that no man can force me to do anything again."

"Truly," Faye said, more a statement than a question as she looked into Annabelle's eyes. They showed determination and less fear than all the other women here. "I might know of somewhere you could learn."

 **Midford Manor**

"So that's the situation," Faye said to Aunt Francis after explaining the night's events and Annabelle's story to her. "I'm sorry to ask such a big favor of you, but would you be willing to take her in?"

Francis studied Faye with a critical eye. Even wearing a robe over her night clothes (Faye had appeared at Midford Manor in the middle of the night, after all), the woman could still intimidate the hardest of criminals. "Bad things seem to happen to young women who have no one around to protect them, don't they?"

Faye blinked at Aunt Francis' response. It felt like Francis was referring to Faye, but as far as she'd been told, Faye ran away from England and went traveling after the death of her parents. Did Francis suspect that Faye had lied?

They stared at each other in silence before Francis said, "I will take this young woman in. She may live here as long as she abides by my rules."

"Thank you, Aunt Francis," Faye said with a bow of her head. "I'm grateful for the generosity of the Midfords and know that I can leave Annabelle in your hands without worrying."

"Of course you can," Francis said in her no nonsense tone. "Now, it's late. All of you will stay here tonight."

"Yes, Aunt Francis." Faye wondered if Francis knew that Snake had four serpents with him, and decided to keep the information to herself just in case she didn't.

 **Phantomhive Manor**

"I can't believe we had to come back here in the middle of the night," Ciel grumbled as they walked up the steps. "Stupid idiotic business partners and their stupid idiotic requests."

Ciel and Sebastian had been meeting with a business partner from France. Ciel's plan had been to graciously offer for the partner to stay in his London home with him while Ciel and Sebastian stayed there as well. But the partner's unreasonable request had been that he wanted to see the countryside and the _real_ Phantomhive Manor to experience the true extent of the famed Phantomhive hospitality. Since neither Ciel nor Sebastian had any confidence in the Phantomhive servants' ability to keep the house in one piece, they'd had to return that night rather than driving down with Ciel's business partner the next morning to make sure that everything would be perfect when he arrived.

Ciel let out a giant yawn as they walked through the doors, then stopped when he realized Sebastian wasn't right next to him. "Sebastian? What's wrong?"

Sebastian stood stock still, smelling the air. His eyes narrowed. "Lady Faye has not been in the house for several hours. Nor has Mey-Rin or Snake." He stalked toward Agni's room, hoping there was a reasonable explanation for this. Where could they be? What would have caused them to leave? It was possible they could be at some last minute noble party…but highly unlikely. Faye avoided them whenever she could.

He knocked on Agni's door, reminding himself to keep it civil rather than pounding the door down as he wanted to.

Agni opened the door, looking fresh and awake. "Yes, Lord Michaelis? Is there something I can do for you?"

"Where is Faye?" Sebastian demanded, then pasted a politely concerned expression on his face. "I meant to say, one of the carriages is absent and Lady Faye seems to be missing from the manor along with Mey-Rin and Snake. Do you know where they have gone?"

Agni looked a little concerned and uncertain. "They left together several hours ago and said they did not know when they would return…I believe their leaving may have had something to do with the Phantomhives' work for the Queen of England."

"I see," Sebastian said with a tilt of his head and a brilliant smile on his face. The wall behind him cracked from the force of his rage. "And you do not know where they went?"

"I'm afraid not," Agni said, his eyes on the crack behind Sebastian, wondering where it had come from and what had caused it.

Sebastian felt along his connection to Faye, concentrating on her. He felt the answering pulse and knew she was at Midford Manor. That was some relief, at least. "Well then, let us pray they all come home safely soon. Otherwise, there will be hell to pay." _Regardless_ there would be hell to pay for Faye running off into a doubtlessly dangerous situation without Sebastian at her side.


	6. Aftermath

**Midford Manor**

Faye awoke tired, but happy the next morning. Annabelle had seemed a bit terrified of Francis (Faye could hardly blame her for that), but last night had been a great success. Faye, Mey-Rin, and Snake and his serpents had stopped a human trafficking ring, saved several young women about to be shipped off, _and_ found a home for the one kidnapped victim who couldn't return to her own home. All without the help of some demon. Not that Faye wasn't grateful for all the help Sebastian gave to her and Ciel, it was just important to Faye that she _could_ be perfectly capable without his help.

Mey-Rin arrived a moment later to help Faye prepare for the day. As usual, Mey-Rin's 'help' made the process take much longer than if Faye had done everything herself. She usually woke before Mey-Rin arrived, but she'd been tired after her late night. After one ripped slip (borrowed from Aunt Francis) and _four_ attempts at tying Faye's boots, Faye was finally able to join her extended family for breakfast.

She arrived in time to catch the tail end of Francis explaining the situation to Elizabeth and Edward before Annabelle arrived. Annabelle entered the dining room cautiously, as though unsure of her welcome. Elizabeth immediately jumped to her feet and ran to Annabelle, taking her arm.

"You can sit by me, Annabelle! I'm Elizabeth and I'm _so_ happy you're coming to live with us. I've always wanted a sister and now I'll have two! You, and Faye once Ciel and I marry!" Elizabeth beamed at Faye as she sat back down with Annabelle at her side.

Edward peered at the young woman in concern. "Don't overwhelm her all at once, Lizzy. I'm sure she's had a rough…" He trailed off awkwardly and blushed, not sure how to phrase what he'd been trying to say. He cleared his throat. "Just give her some time to adjust, Lizzy. Okay?"

Elizabeth pouted. Annabelle shook her head, a tentative smile on her face. "No, it's fine. I think it will be wonderful to have a sister. Especially a little sister."

Elizabeth turned her full-wattage smile on Annabelle. Annabelle smiled back, a more natural smile this time.

"And," Elizabeth said earnestly, "Faye said you want to learn how to fight. I'll be more than happy to help you train."

Annabelle blinked at Elizabeth, clearing wondering how this blond girl in pigtails and a frilly pink dress could teach her anything.

Faye and Edward shared an amused smile.

"Elizabeth is a prodigy swordswoman," Faye explained. "All of the Midford family is expert at swordsmanship. They have to be with Uncle Alexis as the head of the British Knights, but Elizabeth is particularly skilled."

Annabelle looked at Elizabeth with shock and respect. "Th-thank you, Lady Faye for bringing me here. And thank you so much, Lady Francis, for allowing me to stay in your home." The other captured women had been terrified of Faye and Mey-Rin, but Annabelle had been awed. She'd been a victim most of her life. Caged by her father's backward thinking, and then sold to never be anything more than a possession. She wanted to learn how to become strong, and it seemed like this was definitely the family to be around to learn such things. She only hoped she'd be able to pay them all back in kind somehow someday.

"Well," Faye said, looking out the window at the angle of the sun, "I apologize for staying only for breakfast, but I think I should return to Phantomhive Manor. I don't know when Ciel and Sebastian will return from their business in London, but I'd like to arrive home before them. Thank you for allowing my servants and me to stay the night, Aunt Francis."

Elizabeth protested that she hadn't even had time to talk with Faye, but Faye assured Elizabeth that they'd see each other soon enough. Faye had planned to be back at the manor the night before, but Annabelle had complicated those plans.

Aunt Francis followed Faye to the door and stopped her before she left. Faye stared up at the imposing, stern woman, wondering what she wanted to say.

Finally, Francis said, "I realize that you and Ceil are very capable as the Queen's Watchdog, but I would like for the both of you to remember that you do have family who love, care, and worry for you. Remember that and be careful when you are on assignment."

Faye stared up at her aunt in surprise. It was rare for Aunt Francis to say anything like this. She couldn't remember the last time Francis had expressed affection for her. Impulsively, Faye wrapped her arms around her aunt, hugging her tightly. Francis paused for a moment, surprised, then returned the hug. Faye's heart ached as for one moment she remembered what it was like to be hugged by her mother.

 **Phantomhive Manor**

The moment Faye walked in the door, she knew Sebastian was furious. The beatific smile on his face was a dead giveaway. Faye gave him an arrogant look before asking, "Is there a problem, Sebastian?" Despite her cocky exterior, she felt dread in the pit of her stomach. She hadn't expected Sebastian and Ciel to already be home. They weren't _supposed_ to be home yet. She'd thought she'd have time to think of a calm way to explain the situation to Sebastian. Caught off guard, she wasn't sure how this conversation would go down.

Mey-Rin looked between the two in surprise, wondering what had prompted Faye to ask that question.

"I was hoping I might speak to you in private, Lady Faye," Sebastian said, his smile still in place.

Faye considered refusing for a moment, but knew this conversation had to happen sooner or later. She may as well get it over with now. And besides, if Faye refused, Sebastian would probably just annoy her until she agreed to speak with him. "Fine," she said, raising her chin and striding passed him.

The moment they were alone, the smile dropped from Sebastian's face. "We've had this conversation before, my Lady. Or perhaps I should say this argument before. Why would you believe I would be any more tolerant of you putting yourself in danger than I have been before? Especially when you went off on your own."

"I didn't go off on my own," Faye said with narrowed eyes. "I had Mey-Rin and Snake with me. One of whom, I might add, was _personally_ recruited by you to help protect the Phantomhive family. Besides, me staying within your sight was never part of our agreement. I swore to let you dictate my interaction with other men and to allow you to create a connection between the two of us."

Faye pulled off her sapphire ring to point at the tattoo of interlocking stars around her finger. " _This_ is what I agreed to. _Not_ to live in a cage where I'm only allowed out with you by my side. I have faithfully kept up my end of the bargain."

Sebastian folded his arms and tilted his head as he stared down at Faye. "Really? The people you dealt with last night on the Queen's assignment were _men_ were they not? And you brought along Snake, who is a man, yet I was not consulted on the matter at all. You are not, in fact, following our agreement."

Faye was so furious at Sebastian's twisting of their bargain that she couldn't speak for a moment. "You meant you had the right to dictate my _romantic_ interaction with men when we struck that deal! You wanted to make sure I never ended up flirting or growing close to another man and you know it! The deal was never meant to include my duties as a Phantomhive."

Faye and Sebastian stared at each other in silence, neither of them willing to move an inch. Finally, Sebastian said, "You don't know the mind of a demon or what, exactly, I meant when we struck our bargain."

He vividly remembered how he felt the night before when he heard Faye had gone off to fulfill the Phantomhive's duty as Watchdog. It _terrified_ him to think of something happening to Faye. Him, a thousands' year old demon who had never felt such an emotion before. The thought of losing Faye and never seeing her again filled him with dread. Never touching or smelling her again. Sebastian shivered at his thoughts. The unfamiliarity of all these thoughts and emotions made him feel _utterly_ alive. He would not allow anything to happen to Faye to take all these vibrant feelings away from him. Then a thought occurred to him.

"There is a possible solution to our problem, my Lady," Sebastian said.

Faye narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "Truly?" She asked in a disbelieving tone, folding her arms and staring at him. If his solution was that they got married so that they'd never be separated, she didn't want to hear it. "And what solution is this?"

"I can tie our life forces together," Sebastian said seriously. "I can bind your life force to mine. It would make it so that I did not have to be so protective of you, my Lady. Having your life force bound to mine would make you stronger and less prone to threats. If something cannot kill me, which is most things, it would be unlikely to kill you. You would be practically immortal."

Faye stared at Sebastian in shock. He'd never mentioned something like this before. She wondered what it would entail and why he was bringing it up now. Then another thought occurred to her. "If this binding of our life forces together would make me practically immortal, does that mean that I wouldn't age?"

Sebastian hesitated for a moment. "Yes, my Lady. Or at least, you would age extremely slowly. It would take centuries for any signs of aging to appear."

Faye shook her head even before the thought really registered. In her mind flashed images of the Phantomhive servants, Ciel, and Elizabeth dying while Faye stayed the same. Of her nieces and nephews growing old, and their children growing old before her eyes. She didn't want to be immortal. "No," she said emphatically. "We'll have to come to a different agreement that suits our situation."

With that, Faye turned and left the room, leaving Sebastian seething. The current situation was unacceptable. The only question was, what was Sebastian going to do about it?

 **Ciel's Office**

"Ciel! Ciel! Ciel!" Soma exclaimed as he burst into Ciel's office, throwing the doors open. Ciel jumped in surprise at the interruption.

Soma ran to Ciel's desk and planted his hands on the wood, breathing heavily and staring at Ciel seriously.

Ciel jumped in surprise at the interruption. "What?" He demanded, wondering if something was wrong. He'd heard a carriage pull up and seen that it was Faye, Snake, and Mey-Rin. Had something gone wrong during their assignment from the Queen? Was one of them hurt?

"I've had an idea," Soma said, his eyes bright.

Ciel slouched in his chair, his heart rate going back to normal. Soma burst in like there was an emergency because he had an idea? Didn't the man have any sense of matching attitude and energy to the situation? If any of his servants came running in like that, it would have meant that something somewhere had gone disastrously wrong.

"What, Soma? What is this idea you have? I have a meeting with my business partner soon."

"Excellent!" Soma said. "You see, before I was helping you by taking care of your London residence for you. We came here so that Agni could help you as a butler, but that means that _I_ am no longer helping you, and it is not very entertaining to just sit around the mansion all day. I was thinking that I could help you with your Funtom Company. It is a good idea, yes?"

Ciel stared at Soma in disbelief and Soma took this as a sign of encouragement. "I see that you are speechless at the idea! Yes, I myself wondered why it took my so long to realize this. With my innate sense of what is high quality and what is useless, I'm sure that I can help the Funtom Company be more profitable by advising you on what products to sell and what ones to get rid of or not put out to begin with. Therefore, I should be present at your upcoming business meeting." Soma folded his arms and gave a firm nod of his head, looking pleased with himself.

Ciel resisted the urge to bang his head on his desk. While Agni was an excellent butler, having Soma in such close proximity for so long was going to drive him insane. He needed to somehow find a superhuman butler and get Soma and Agni back to the Phantomhive London residence where they were tolerable. But where was he supposed to find another butler worthy of the Phantomhives?


	7. Broken Spell

**Phantomhive Manor**

It was barely passed midnight when Sebastian heard them coming. It was not too uncommon for assailants to attack Phantomhive Manor in the dead of night. After the rumors began circulating that anyone who dared such a folly feat was never seen or heard from again the attacks died down somewhat. However, in their line of work the Phantomhives would inevitably make a new enemy or someone among the criminal element would want to prove themselves by accomplishing the impossible. As such, the estate was attacked at least once a month.

Sebastian was on his way to wake the rest of the servants when he suddenly realized that he wasn't _supposed_ to gather them to fight off enemies anymore. Such was the job of the head butler and _not_ a marquis. He mentally shrugged and turned around, deciding to handle the matter himself before anyone else was aware of the problem. However, when he arrived in the living room, he found Agni already there.

"Ah, I'm sorry that you were awakened, my friend," Agni said, putting his hands together and bowing to Sebastian. "I'd hoped to handle this situation before anyone else was troubled. Please, go back to bed. All will be well."

"Well, if you insist," Sebastian said gamely. Handling intruders truly was not the duty of a marquis. "Are you sure you would not like me to rouse the rest of the servants to come help you?"

"I appreciate the offer, my friend, but I will handle this on my own."

"All right. Good luck, then."

Agni bowed to Sebastian again before going outside. Having fought against Agni himself, Sebastian was not overly concerned about the outcome of this fight, but decided to observe unobtrusively nevertheless.

~.~

"The mansion's under attack, the mansion's under attack!" Mey-Rin yelled as she ran down the servants' quarters. She felt like her heart was in her throat as she ran to the roof where her long-range rifles were stationed. She'd heard a noise and seen an attacker outside her window. She'd dispatched him immediately, but intruders never should have gotten that close without an alarm being raised.

Normally, Sebastian would have come and gotten the rest of the servants long before this…but Sebastian was no longer one of the servants. Had his normally keen senses not noticed the attackers from his new bedroom on the second floor? Or had he simply decided to leave matters to Mey-Rin and the others now that he was a marquis?

Mey-Rin's eyes hardened as she flung herself up the stairs. If Sebastian was relying on her and the others, she would not let him down. He was the one who found her, Baldroy, and Finny. He brought them here where they had a worthy master and better lives than before. Wonderful lives filled with wonderful people.

Mey-Rin stood on the roof the next moment, sighting down at the ground. Before she could get a shot off, her target was on the ground, unmoving. Mey-Rin blinked in confusion, but picked another target. Again, he lay on the ground unmoving before she'd done anything. Mey-Rin lowered her rifle and stared harder at the ground. A man in a white turban was systematically taking out every opponent. Agni.

The rifle hung loosely from Mey-Rin's hand as she gazed down in amazement. Had Agni been handling this whole force of attackers by himself?

~.~

Bard had just gotten his flamethrower from the kitchen when a voice said, "I would not bother with that if I were you. Agni has things well in hand."

Bard swung the flamethrower towards the sound of the voice, his finger on the trigger before he saw Soma by the light of a candle, calmly drinking tea.

"Blimey, Prince!" Bard yelled, his heart pounding. "I almost fried ya! What are you doing sneakin' up on me in the dark like that? We're under attack!"

"Yes, I know," Soma said, nodding calmly. "I had a great desire for tea in the middle of the night and Agni was preparing it for me when he had to leave to take care of this little disturbance. Just relax and drink some tea with me while Agni handles everything."

"Handles everything?" Bard asked with raised eyebrows. "Aren't you worried that he might need some help? We get some pretty nasty people comin' around to attack the estate, you know. The Phantomhives aren't very popular among a certain kind of crowd."

"There's nothing that Agni can't handle," Soma waved off. "I promise you that he will be back inside soon."

Unwilling to simply accept the words of the easy-going and unconcerned prince, Bard stepped out the kitchen door to look outside. He found a pile of unconscious attackers by a tree and a whirling menace that had to be Agni fighting his way through more attackers. Bard looked from his flamethrower to the whirling mass. If he tried to join the fight, he'd be just as likely to fry Agni as to fry an enemy. Aside from that, Agni looked as deadly as Sebastian going full force.

With a shrug, Bard came back inside and shut the door behind him. "I think I will join you for a bit of tea, Prince Soma. Might as well since I'm up anyway."

~.~

"Yaaaahhh!" Finny yelled as he ran out the front doors of the mansion, ready to tear apart any threats to his home and masters. He stopped abruptly when he got outside and looked around. There weren't any attackers for him _to_ tear apart. Instead he saw Agni standing with several unconscious men lying around him.

Agni turned when he heard Finny. "I'm so sorry to have awoken you, my friend," he apologized. "I tried to be as quiet as I could so as to not disturb anyone."

"No…it's…fine…" Finny said, trailing off as he looked at the grounds in amazement. How long had it taken for Agni to take all these men out? Finally, he shook himself and said, "Since I'm already here, would you like my help for the clean-up?"

~.~

Standing out of sight in the woods, Sebastian watched Agni take down a force of thirty men without getting a single scratch on him. He had seen Agni accomplish impressive feats before, of course. Agni's skills were enough to impress even Sebastian. The two of them were nearly matched on some things, though their power came from _very_ different sources. Sebastian's came from being a demon while Agni's came from his love and devotion for Soma.

For the sake of his prince, Agni was regularly able to reach heights far above those of the average human. No demon could gain power from love and faith as Agni did. Love, or whatever emotion it was that Sebastian felt for Faye, made him weaker. He was astounded that he'd actually suggested binding Faye's life force to his own as doing so would involve him giving up some of his power. Admittedly, he was very powerful and it wouldn't require a great amount of power to make Faye nearly immortal, but still. He'd actually contemplated making himself weaker for the sake of a human. What was he thinking?

Sebastian again pondered the fact that his feelings for Faye seemed to have altered slightly since he'd returned from the nexus. Originally, he'd planned to live out Faye's life as the Phantomhive butler. That thought no longer contented him. He didn't want to just be near Faye. He wanted Faye to want him and love him. She should want to be by his side.

He also wanted them joined as husband and wife. Not because the titles meant anything to him, but because they meant something to Faye and the human world. Others should recognize the fact that Faye belonged to him. Most of all her.

When Finny came out and began helping Agni clean-up the mess of attackers, Sebastian turned to walk deeper into the woods.

 _Why_ had his feelings regarding Faye changed? From the moment William cast the spell on him until he fell into the nexus his feelings had remained consistent. Was it possibly falling into the nexus broke William's spell? Sebastian immediately shook his head at the thought. He could not possibly love a human of his own accord. Demons weren't capable of love. Greed and lust, but not love. Sebastian had lived for thousands of years and never felt anything like what he felt for Faye, nor had he ever seen other demon love.

A month or so after the spell had been cast on him, he'd decided to embrace it when he realized it gave him feelings that he'd never had before and would not experience otherwise. It relieved the monotony of immortality. _This_ was what Sebastian needed to remember, not some ludicrous idea of joining Faye's life to his to keep her.

Faye and the spell were a minor instance of entertainment in his long life. He would embrace these feelings while he had them and revel in the torture of losing Faye when she died. _After_ she'd live a long life. Then he would go back to being a normal demon and eventually find a new human to make a contract with and eat his soul. In the meantime, he would optimize the fleeting time he had with Faye.

~.~

Sebastian found Faye alone in the garden the next morning. "Lady Faye," he said gently, "might I have a moment of your time?"

Faye looked up and hesitated a second before nodding. The next moment, Sebastian appeared in front of Faye, making her jump. "What do you think of marrying me, Lady Faye?" Sebastian asked. He raised one gloved hand and ran the back of his fingers gently down her face. "You have yet to say no to me."

Faye blushed and stepped back, but Sebastian followed her. He knew that he affected her physically and was more than willing to try to use that to sway her decision.

Faye hesitated before answering. Truth be told, despite her internal struggle over the matter, and while the thought of saying yes had only vaguely crossed her mind, the thought of outright saying no had not entered into her thoughts. "I'm still thinking," Faye finally said. "This isn't a decision for me to make lightly. I realize that my choice is to marry you or not marry at all, but I still don't know."

Sebastian pushed down his irritation, not letting any of it show on his face. Why did she insist on prolonging this? What was the point in her _not_ saying yes? Her fate was tied to him regardless. Was it such a big step to marry him? He was confident that the two of them would become lovers eventually regardless. Surely, with her Victorian sensibilities she would prefer that the two of them be married before that happened.

"Am I allowed to woo you?" Sebastian asked, tilting his head. "Part of your objection seems to be that we are not, as you might say, a 'normal couple'. However, if I were a normal man, then the natural thing for me to do in this situation would be to put every effort forth in convincing you that I am the right man for you, correct?"

"Yes," Faye said slowly. "You may…court me if that is your desire." Just the thought of it made Faye's heart race, though she wasn't sure if it was in fear or excitement. Sebastian always did everything perfectly. What in the world would it look like to be wooed by him?

Sebastian flashed a smile at Faye. He reached out and slowly ran his hand down her arm before grabbing her hand and bringing it up to kiss the back of her hand. "Thank you, my Lady," he said, looking up at her from his bent position. "I trust I will not disappoint you."

Faye gulped, wondering what she'd gotten herself into.


	8. Breaking Point

**A/N:** I got ahead in my writing, so here's an extra chapter! I'll still post another one at the end of the week.

 **Isolated English Village**

"Mommy, why isn't Daddy home?" A little boy asked, stepping outside his small home to look down the street. The sun was setting in the distance and the first stars would soon appear in the sky.

"He must have had to work late today, Randy," his mother called from the kitchen. "I'm sure he'll be home soon. Come help me set the table so that dinner will be all ready for him when he gets home."

"All right," Randy said, taking one last look down the street before dragging his feet and coming back inside. He hurried and set the table before running back out. He was _always_ the first to greet his dad when he came home from work. Daddy said that it was the best part of his day and Randy wanted to make sure that he didn't miss his dad getting home.

Randy brightened when he finally saw a figure dressed in a coat and pants shuffling down the street. He yelled excitedly and raised one hand in greeting before he realized that the man was walking funny. Randy lowered his hand, no longer sure that the man was his father.

"Randy?" His mother called from inside, poking her head out. "Is that your father?" She looked up the street and frowned at what she saw. "Sir, are you all right?" She came all the way outside and took a few steps forward. The man shambling down the street looked on the verge of collapse and his clothes appeared ruined and filthy. He stared at her blankly, not responding. "Sir?" She repeated. "Are you all right?"

She began to feel uneasy when the man continued toward them without speaking. Wordlessly, she grabbed her son and pushed him behind her. She glanced at him for a moment when he fought against her and began backing the two of them toward the door. When she glanced forward again, the man ran forward, his mouth gaping wide open.

She had time to scream before her throat was ripped open, the blood splattering Randy. Soon, screaming was heard all around the village.

~.~

"Unbelievable," Faye whispered, staring down at the body of a mutilated boy holding onto the skirts of his dead mother. "I can't believe how much carnage is here." They had just entered the village, but it already smelled of blood and death.

"Careful, my Lady," Sebastian said, gently pulling Faye away from the doorway in which the mother and child lay. "Don't get too close to the doors. We don't know where the zombies are or how many there are. It would hardly do for one to lunge out and surprise you." He laid a gentle hand on her arm, as though afraid of her wandering too close to another doorway.

"Right," Faye said, her face pale as she tore her gaze away from the sad sight. The Phantomhives had been alerted a mere half hour ago by John Brown that a small village had been attacked by zombies. The Queen requested that they check the situation out. So far, it appeared that everyone in the village was dead.

"But why?" Faye asked quietly as she, Ciel, and Sebastian moved cautiously through the village. "What's the point in letting the zombies out to commit mass murder? I know that Undertaker is erratic and insane, but when has he ever shown himself to be interested in mindless slaughter?"

"Perhaps this wasn't his intention," Ciel said, trying not to look too closely at anything lying on the ground as he searched for movement. "These zombies may have escaped from him. He _is_ trying to create zombies with higher cognitive function, after all. The zombies here might have figured out enough to get away and then lost control of themselves."

"Perhaps," Faye agreed. She didn't know which was worse. The idea that Undertaker was now allowing his zombies to wander around killing people in a pointless attempt to assuage their insatiable hunger, or the thought that Undertaker's carelessness had led to the death of dozens of people.

Faye had seen death before, but never on this scale. For the zombies to just go through the town, killing everyone they met…Not to mention the horror of the zombies existence themselves. The names of the zombies reappeared on the reaper's list, which must mean that their souls were trapped and unable to move on. It was a desecration of the worst kind to take someone's body and turn it into a monster. To take the souls and bodies of humans and twist them into something unrecognizable and unnatural. How did Undertaker not this this as an abomination? What could he possibly think he'd gain by doing this? And did he care at all about the consequences?

A loud crash sounded in an alley between a home and a carpenter shop, jerking Faye from her thoughts. She turned in a flash, knife at the ready. However, it was a dog that came slinking out from the alley. It must have knocked into something. Faye relaxed, but the next moment a figure lunged forward out of the shadows. Faye cursed and threw her knife at the figure's forehead. The zombie dropped, motionless.

Zombies began climbing out of windows and shuffling through doorways. Ciel whipped out his pistol, firing into the heads of the zombies closest to him. Faye took out more knives, throwing with deadly accuracy. Sebastian leapt into movement, clearing the zombies on the outskirts of the small crowd before they overwhelmed the Phantomhive siblings.

One zombie tripped over a fallen comrade and crawled forward. Faye misjudged the angle and her knife struck its shoulder rather than its head. She backed up quickly, a sensation crawling up her back that she hated more than anything. Fear.

She reached into her sleeve for another knife. Panicked threatened when she realized she didn't have any more knives strapped to her arms. She reached for one in her boot and in her haste tripped. Faye let out a half-curse, half-shriek as she scuttled backward to put some distance between her and the creature. By the time she managed to get her knife into her hand, the zombie fell forward, a butter knife protruding from the back of its head. She looked up, but Sebastian was already turning his attention to another threat.

Faye swallowed back her irritation as she reached forward and jerked the knife out of the zombie's shoulder to use it again. She'd had the situation under control. She hadn't needed help. Her next throw hit its mark and the zombie coming up on Ciel's back dropped to the ground.

In a matter of minutes, the night was still once again. Ciel and Faye stayed posed to fight until Sebastian relaxed and said, "Well then, shall we continue on? We're only halfway through the village and there might still be more zombies waiting. Let us be thorough in our search."

 **Phantomhive Manor**

That night, the three arrived home in the early hours of the morning, the two humans exhausted. Faye felt sick after what they'd seen. The zombies were bad enough, but all that senseless murder on top of it…she didn't think she'd be getting any sleep that day. At least, not any sleep that wasn't interrupted by horrid nightmares.

"We'll make our report to the Queen in the morning, Sebastian," Ciel said, trying to stifle a yawn. "You can write it up now and I'll look over it later. Let her know—" Ciel broke off when Agni entered the room, carrying something white in his hands.

"Agni," Sebastian said, raising his eyebrows. "What on earth has you up so early in the morning?"

"I am glad to see you have all returned home safely," Agni said by way of greeting. "This letter arrived while you were gone and I thought it prudent to give it to you as soon as you returned."

"Thank you," Sebastian said with a beaming smile, taking the letter. "We greatly appreciate your diligence as the temporary Phantomhive butler. I don't know what we would do without you."

Agni put a hand to his chest and bowed. "If you have no further need of me at the moment, I will return to my room."

Sebastian waited until Agni was gone before flashing the seal of the letter to the Phantomhive siblings. The Queen's seal. They had just returned from an assignment. What on earth could she want so soon?

Sebastian read through the letter.

"Well?" Ciel demanded. "What is it now?"

"It appears that the Queen is becoming anxious for your decision regarding Undertaker's zombies. She wants to know whether you plan to help her obtain the secret of these zombies for the good of England or not."

The room fell into silence and Faye wondered if Ciel was recalling the events of that night as she was. She was about to open her mouth to say obviously they had to refuse when Ciel said, "Obviously we must accept."

"What?" Faye asked, staring at her brother as though her were a stranger. Sebastian's eyebrows lifted a little in surprise. He hadn't been expecting _that_ answer.

"It's the only solution, really, Faye," Ciel said calmly as he walked toward the stairs.

"The only solution?" Faye repeated, still dumbfounded. "What on Earth are you taking about?"

"We are the _Queen's_ Watchdog. We are the underground protectors of England who are called when no one else can handle the situation. We've seen a great deal about what this world has to offer. Demons and fallen angels. Reapers and giant demon dogs. Scotland Yard can't handle these things. The _army_ can't handle these things. The world is a dangerous place and England has enemies, Faye. With an unstoppable force of zombies, no one will challenge us. At least, not and win."

He walked up a few steps and finally turned to face Faye, looking down at her. "It's not only how durable and difficult to kill the zombies are, it's how horrifying they are. People will be too afraid to fight them."

"Have you gone mad?" Faye asked. "How long have you been thinking this for?" Thinking back, Faye realized that Ciel had not shown the same vehement distaste as Faye for the zombies and the Queen's idea, but she'd never expected this. "And what of people's souls being trapped in damaged and deranged bodies? What of all the innocent people murdered? Ciel, the only option is to say _no_ , regardless of how the Queen may feel about it.There are some things that go beyond loyalty to Queen and country."

"I'm sorry, Faye," Ciel said unsympathetically. "My mind is made up. This is the path I've chosen."

The siblings stared at each other, the one disbelieving and the other cold and calculating. Eventually, Faye shook her head as she took a few steps backward. "I will not stand for this. I don't know how you're justifying this to yourself, but I will not be part of it." She turned and walked out.

"My Lady," Sebastian said, moving toward the door.

"Leave her!" Ciel commanded. Sebastian turned a surprised look on Ciel. Ciel raised his chin and stared down at his former butler. "That is an order. Let her go."

For a moment, Sebastian's look changed. He looked at Ciel as though he were a bug and Ciel was sharply reminded of what happened when Alois tried to keep Claude away from Faye. Claude had snapped Alois' neck. Ciel worked to show none of his fear on his face and Sebastian eventually bowed saying, "Yes, my Lord."

~.~

Faye went straight for the barn, her movements jerky as she saddled one of the horses. Her breathing was heavy and her mind felt so cluttered she could barely think straight, but a few thoughts were clear. She was done being sheltered and protected. She was done ignoring a situation that so clearly needed resolving. She was neither a victim, nor a damsel in distress.

Faye rode hard and fast. The cold morning wind whipping passed her seemed to crystalize her resolve. She should have done this a while ago. She shouldn't have let any other considerations get in her way of making the decision that she knew was best.

Two hours later found Faye sitting in the office of the manager of the Grim Reaper Dispatch Society.

"I am pleased to welcome you back, Faye," William said, his glasses gleaming in the candle light. "The Dispatch Society sorely needs more help in our fight against Undertaker and his abominations."

Faye gave a curt nod. "Ciel and Sebastian will be working against us. They're trying to learn the secret of Undertaker's zombies for the sake of Queen Victoria and England."

William's mouth twisted in distaste. "Are you prepared for that?" He asked. "To stand on the opposite side of your brother?"

Faye hesitated for only a moment. "So long as I'm only asked to stop them and not hurt them, and so long as excess force is not used against them by the grim reapers, yes."

 **A/N:** Some of you may be thinking, 'But what about Sebastian wooing Faye?!' I know it's cruel to separate the two after they finally made a little progress, but I promise that a silly thing like fighting for opposite sides won't deter Sebastian in the slightest in his efforts to win Faye's hand in marriage.


	9. Shadow Game

**Phantomhive Manor**

"Pacing won't tell you where she is," Ciel said in irritation as Sebastian paced in his office.

Sebastian gave Ciel an irritated look, but did not pause in his pacing. Faye had been gone for five days now. _Five days._ Sebastian knew that Ciel was worried and upset, despite his efforts to show neither emotion, but the young lord continued to insist that everything was fine.

What Ciel did not know was that Sebastian had a direct link to Faye and should be able to sense her anywhere, but he had no idea where she was. He was certain she wasn't dead. The severing of the connection was something he would have felt. That begged the question of _why_ couldn't he sense her? Had she found a spell that allowed her to block him? Was she in a place that somehow interfered with his powers?

Not knowing where Faye was or what she was doing was driving him mad. The two of them had been tied together for months and it was a comforting little buzz in the back of his mind for him to feel her presence. The only time he hadn't been able to sense Faye was when the demon Hannah took off with her. He didn't believe that anything like that had happened now. Unless Undertaker had her…He shook the thought away. Ciel was the Phantomhive that interested Undertaker, not Faye. Undertaker had no reason to take Faye.

"Would you stop that infernal pacing?" Ciel demanded, slamming his hands on his desk. "You're acting like a caged animal and it's driving me mad. Do I have to order you to stop?"

Sebastian forced himself to stand still. "I'm surprised at your decision."

"My decision?" Ciel asked with raised eyebrows. "You mean to let Faye walk out?"

Sebastian gave him a look. "Surely you are aware of the decision I'm referring to, my Lord. You seemed to have been against allowing the Queen access to the secrets of the zombies until you made your announcement a few days ago. Barring any protests against the…perhaps objectionable manner in which the zombies are created, not even Undertaker has been able to control them. They wouldn't be of much use for an army."

"True," Ciel said, standing up and gazing out the window. "But you wouldn't need to control them. All that would be required would be to contain them until they were needed. When the time came, put them in an isolated area with your enemy and your problem would be solved. However, that's not why I said yes to the Queen."

Snake entered the room before Ciel could elaborate on his statement. The young footman looked oddly crestfallen. "There's a letter," he said, holding it out.

Ciel marched forward and took the letter from Snake before Sebastian could. He was tired of Sebastian taking charge of everything. It was one thing when he did as the Phantomhive butler. For him to do as a marquis and as though he still held authority to command the household was nothing but aggravating.

"It's from Lady Faye, says Bronte," Snake said quietly, looking at the floor. "Emily says…that she misses Lady Faye."

Ciel's eyes softened for a moment. "Thank you, Snake." Snake nodded once before turning and leaving. Ciel ripped open the letter, not bothering to go back to his desk for a letter opener.

 _Dearest Ciel,_

 _I am afraid that for now we must part, little brother. I cannot abide by the decision you have made, nor do I understand how you could make such a decision. I spent three years fighting against those who sought to do wrong, and fighting for those who needed protecting. I believed we were doing the same thing in our work for the Queen._

 _I have rejoined my former associates and plan to aid them in the coming conflict. I hope that once this is over we can once again live together as brother and sister. I want you to know that finding out you were alive and living with you again for the past year has been one of the greatest joys of my life, but this is where I need to be right now._

 _I hope that I will not have to face you in the coming conflict, but know that I am willing to do so._

 _Your Ever Faithful Sister,_

 _Faye Phantomhive_

Ciel went back to his desk and sat down, oblivious to the furious demon who had been reading the letter of his shoulder. Faye had gone back to the Grim Reaper Dispatch Society. Good.

Sebastian felt…he didn't even know how he felt. Furious and hurt that Faye had left without saying anything to him (admittedly, if she had he wouldn't have let her leave, but it still upset him). Outraged that Faye would return to the grim reapers who tried to kill him on a regular basis (not that he was particularly concerned over the matter, but his future wife had no right to consort with beings who wanted him dead). Not to mention the fact that it meant she was living with William, whom she was quite fond of. He also felt felt...oddly hollow that Faye hadn't even mentioned him in her letter. Was it possible he still meant that little to her? He was sure that wasn't the case. But…how could she just leave him and then not send any word to him? Was him pursuing her a factor in her drastic decision to rejoin the reapers?

"Well, my Lord, perhaps you would care to explain _why_ you said yes to the Queen and chose to drive your sister into the hands of our enemies. And what exactly do you plan to do about that? Surely you cannot be happy with Faye being gone. The two of you spent so much time apart because of your belief that the other was dead."

"The grim reapers are not _our_ enemy," Ciel said dryly. "They're an occasional hindrance to me, but you're the one they want dead. And I said yes to the Queen because it will be easier for us to work alongside her in order to stop Undertaker."

Sebastian blinked once. His anguish over what he considered Faye's betrayal must have addled his mind, because he had no idea what his young master meant. "Pardon, my Lord?"

"It will be easier to fight against Undertaker if we have the Queen's resources at our disposal," Ciel explained. "If she believes we are still her allies she won't stand in our way and will give us any aid we ask for. Once we kill Undertaker and eliminate his zombies, we'll simply tell the Queen that things got out of hand and the secrets of the zombies were lost along with their maker." He shrugged. "She'll be upset and pout for a while, but she'll get over it eventually."

Sebastian stared at Ciel, trying to make sense of how Faye fit into this plan. Normally, he was flawless at guessing the mind of his master. "But if you truly plan on stopping Undertaker, why did you tell Lady Faye that you are going to help the Queen? Why hide the truth from her?"

Ciel began fussing with papers on his desk, organizing them into piles. "Because I was counting on the grim reapers asking for Faye's help and on Faye running back to them if she believed I planned to side with the Queen." He paused. "It will be better if the Phantomhives split up for now. I believe the reapers will be more effective with Faye and I think she'll be safer with the reapers. I don't want her with us right now. Plus, what if things escalate and Faye ends up killing the Queen in a fit of rage? She's worked up enough over the zombies that she might and I'm sure she'd regret doing so."

Sebastian gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes at his master. "And you did not see fit to let me in on this plan? You saw some benefit to keeping me in the dark?"

Ciel looked up, a mocking look in his eye. "I thought we were companions now and not master and servant. As such, you need not be privy to my every thought, correct? Besides, normally you're excellent at guessing what I'm thinking. I was sure you would catch on quick enough. Perhaps you're off your game, Sebastian."

"Very well," Sebastian said, still seething. "I'm sure you only have your sister's best interests at heart, _my Lord._ " Sebastian gave a sarcastic bow before leaving.

Ciel breathed a sigh of relief after Sebastian left. Sebastian was always on edge when he went too long without seeing Faye. Ciel had known that Sebastian would be agitated, but hopefully things wouldn't get any worse than they were now.

Ciel was a little hurt that Faye didn't try talking things over with him before leaving, but he'd known that the whole situation with Sebastian had been winding her tighter and tighter. He was grateful she'd gone to the grim reapers like he'd thought she would. It was the only place she could go where Sebastian couldn't reach her.

In all of Sebastian's dealings with Faye, in all his attempts to make her fall for him, one thing Sebastian hadn't considered at all was Ciel. How Ciel felt about the matter and what he might do about it. He had never been pleased with the deal Faye made with Sebastian for his sake and he didn't plan to stand back and allow them to be married. This went far beyond his irritation at losing his butler. His deal with a demon was meant to affect his life, and no one else's. He didn't want Faye dragged so deeply into this because of a decision he had made. Faye should be free to make the choices she wanted for her life. And the situation with Undertaker had provided the perfect opportunity to sabotage Sebastian's and Faye's relationship.

 **A/N:** Sorry for the shorter chapter. I'm hoping I'll be able to post twice again next week :)


	10. Reaper Life

**Grim Reaper Dispatch Society Headquarters**

Faye sat on her bed, staring out the window. It was a view she was quite familiar with since this room had once been hers for three years. She was amazed that nothing had been done with it in the time that she'd been gone.

All of her old things, her clothes, her bedding, and her hair ties were also present. William had them put into storage when Faye left. She wondered if he did that because he'd figured she would return or if he, the ultimate example in stoicism, had been too sentimental to simply throw them away. Or maybe he'd thought Faye would come back to collect her old things and simply forgot to bring the matter up the few times Faye came to visit the Society. Regardless of the reason, Faye was grateful. It was more convenient for her not to have to return to Phantomhive Manor for clothes. She wasn't so sure that Sebastian would let her leave if she did return.

A knock sounded on her door. Faye opened it to find Ronald Knox on the other side.

"Welcome back, Faye!" He greeted, throwing his arms in the air. "I just heard from William that you've joined us again. I'm really glad you'll be helping us out with this whole zombie issue. It's creating a whole mess of problems. We're way behind on reaping current deaths because of all the people who are reappearing on our lists." He sighed, looking dejected. "It seems like the overtime work will never end. I can't imagine what Undertaker is thinking."

Faye wondered if Ronald was more upset by what Undertaker was doing or by the fact that he had to work overtime. Typical reaper. "I'm glad to be helping," she said honestly. "Undertaker must be stopped and I want to do whatever is necessary to accomplish that end."

Ronald nodded before leaning one arm against the doorjamb and smirking down at her. "So, Faye, did you let your skills get rusty while you were gone? It must have been easy having a demon butler around to do everything for you."

Faye raised her eyebrows. "Perhaps you'd like to find out for yourself, Ronald. Care to spar?"

He grinned. "By all means." He bowed, gesturing for Faye to lead the way. "Feel free to use your knives. It's not like they can do much against me since they're not death scythes."

"All right, I will use them," Faye said as the two of them walked down the hall side-by-side. "But don't forget to watch your strength while sparring with a poor, fragile mortal like me."

Ronald snorted. "The last thing you need is me going easy on you." Faye smiled outwardly, but inwardly she hoped that Ronald was right. Truth be told, she probably _had_ been relying on Sebastian more than she should have. It was easier when he was so much more efficient than her.

They entered the sparring ring and Faye gripped two of her knives, moving into a fighting stance. She and Ronald eyed each other carefully. Ronald made the first move, ducking low and running forward. Faye sidestepped and let one of her knives fly. He twisted at the last moment to avoid it. When he lifted one leg to kick her, she attacked his vulnerable leg with a quick jab of her heel. He flipped over backward to escape her next attack.

"So what's it like to live with a demon?" He asked conversationally, not the least bit winded by their fight.

"Interesting," Faye said. "And unnerving sometimes." She ducked to avoid a punch. "It seems like there's nothing he can't do perfectly, which is aggravating sometimes."

He aimed a kick at her face and hit her arm instead when she blocked him. "I have something I need to apologize for," he said, guilt flashing through her eyes. "And it's long overdue. I'm sorry I helped William with the spell to make your brother's demon fall in love with you. William made it sound like you knew what was going on. I thought you'd volunteered to be the object of the spell and Sebastian's affections in order to help us kill him. I had no idea you didn't know about it."

Faye could easily imagine Ronald innocently telling William that it was great of Faye to make such a dangerous sacrifice to help the reapers, and William being too guilty to admit that Faye was in the dark about the whole thing. "It's all right," Faye told Ronald, lunging forward with her knife aimed at his stomach. "If you and William hadn't cast, the spell, Ciel would be dead. Sebastian would have eaten him the moment he killed the fallen angel Ash."

For a moment, Faye wondered what her life would be like if the spell hadn't been cast on Sebastian. Would she have returned to working with the grim reapers? Continued on as the Queen's watchdog with the help of the Phantomhives' outstanding staff? Or perhaps she would have moved in with the Midfords and decided to live a normal life. She would never know. Nor did she want to know, which brought up the question of if she was grateful for the spell cast on Sebastian and all its accompanying effects. She admitted, deep within herself where no one else could see, that it _was_ somewhat flattering to have such a powerful being desire her. Though the fact that Sebastian's feelings were manufactured by a spell made it less flattering.

A throat cleared and Ronald and Faye both froze. William stood at the edge of the sparring ring, a death notebook in his hands. "New names have reappeared on the death list," he announced. "We need to go."

 **London**

"It mye noc!" Faye chanted, holding her hand out. Brightly colored strings flew from her hand to wrap around three zombies. The spell was actually meant to bind evil souls, but William had explained to her that the act of souls being dragged back from wherever they belonged warped the souls enough for the spell to work on them. The three shambling corpses froze, held in place by the spell.

William's pruners came forward, neatly snipping off the heads of the zombies one by one. Behind them, Ronald rode along on his death scythe, mowing down zombies.

"It mye noc!" Faye chanted again. As William proceeded to kill (or re-kill, really) the zombies, Faye used her free hand to throw a knife into the head of a zombie creeping up behind Ronald.

Ronald gave her a salute before continuing on his with his mowing.

"Firnai mysta nuk," Faye chanted when all the zombies seemed to lay unmoving. The spell to find souls didn't quite work the same for zombies as it did for living beings. Instead, Faye felt an innate sense of wrongness when she used the spell around zombies. Either way, the spell worked fine for detecting them and she only sensed living beings in the vicinity. She breathed a sigh of relief.

"The appearances of these creatures are continuing to increase," William said gravely. "Undertaker must be increasing his experiments. Of course, posing as an actual undertaker, people do bring him dead bodies on a regular basis."

Faye jumped when a loud voice called, "Oye! What do you think you're doing?" Faye noticed that Ronald and William startled too, which meant whoever had just come up on them was _very_ good.

She turned to see Charles Grey, his hands on his hips as he surveyed the three of them. To his right stood Charles Phipps, looking as impassive as ever.

"What are you doing here?" Faye asked, narrowing her eyes.

"That's what I want to ask you," Grey said, leaning forward and pointing a finger at her.

"It's not polite to point," Ronald declared. Grey ignored him.

"The Queen sent us because she feels that the Phantomhives are working too slowly, so she wants us to help as well," Grey explained. "Obviously, she was right to send us. Exactly what is it you hope to accomplish by killing all the zombies? We'll never learn the secret of them that way. You were _supposed_ to bring one to her Majesty if you were too incompetent to catch Undertaker and bring him in." Grey looked around, holding one hand above his eyes as though to shade them from the moonlight as he peered behind Faye. "Where's your flawless butler? Shouldn't he have some leads on the whereabouts of Undertaker?"

Faye stared at him in disbelief. How could he be so cavalier at the scene in front of him? Interspersed among the zombies were the bodies of their victims. Five or six people had been killed before Faye and the reapers arrived.

Faye slowly walked forward until she stood next to the body of a young girl. The wide, dead eyes staring blankly up at the sky belonged to a face that didn't even look fourteen. Faye looked from the body to Grey. "Does the death of your countrymen mean so little to you, Lord Grey? Is any sacrifice acceptable so long as it pleases your master?" Her gaze switched to Phipps. "Can the two of you truly support Queen Victoria's desire for undead soldiers when the cost is so high?"

Grey, for once in his life, was silent. Faye took a few steps toward the pair, glaring fiercely. "My brother and I have separated for the time being. I do not support the Queen's desire for zombies and will do everything in my power to see that she does not obtain them and that this menace is brought to an end." She turned on her heel and stalked away, Ronald and William following along behind her.

~.~

The trio returned to London only a week later. This time, the sight greeting them was much worse.

Faye stared up in horror at the building where she sensed the zombies. An orphanage. The zombies were in an orphanage and she sensed no living humans. She did, however, sense a reaper. "Undertaker is here," she announced.

Ronald and William moved forward. Faye had to force herself to follow them. She did not want to see the carnage that lay inside. Not when all of it would be children. The moment William opened the door, a zombie lunged at him.

Ronald and William were both quickly engaged in fighting. Faye ran passed them both, ducking to avoid being hit. "Faye!" William yelled, turning his head to watch her. "Where are you going?"

She was tired of being too late. She was tired of being heartbroken and furious at the sight of more dead victims. She was tired of _never_ arriving in time to save anyone. Killing zombies wasn't going to accomplish anything, not in the long run. It was like trying to stop a flood by standing in front of it and hoping your body blocked some of the water. Undertaker was the source of everything. He was who they needed to eliminate.

Faye ran up to the second floor and reached what looked like a living room. Bile rose in her throat. A dead girl hung over the back of a couch, blood running from her neck. A boy lay on the floor in front of her, a ripped stuff bear still clutched in his arms. On the other side of the room stood Undertaker. Zombies knelt on either side of him, gnawing on the flesh of two more dead children.

"How quaint," Faye said coldly. "The grim reapers have been looking for you for months, and here you are, just waiting for us."

"Roct myr nukt!" Faye yelled the spell to bind a grim reaper. Of course, the last time she used this spell on Undertaker it hadn't worked, but she still had to try. Undertaker swung his death scythe, blocking the spell.

"Is your goal to slaughter every living being in England?" Faye asked, hoping to stall for a time until William and Ronald showed up, or until she figured out another way to stop Undertaker.

Undertaker shrugged. "Everyone dies some time. The casualties are regrettable, but I'm only speeding up the inevitable." He grinned at his rhyme, infuriating Faye.

"If you feel so casual about everyone dying, why won't you just let nature take its course? Why are you so obsessed with trying to circumvent the natural order?"

"Because I'm curious!" Undertaker declared, grinning and throwing his arms in the air. "When someone loses all curiosity, that's when they really die. There's no point in living without it. I want to see what I can accomplish by manipulating death, by becoming the master of life itself. If I'm successful, I'll accomplish something no one else has ever done."

He leaned forward and spoke conspiratorially, as though he were sharing a secret with Faye. "Imagine. I could stop death and nothing like this would ever have to happen again." He gestured at the dead children around him. "Worthy people wouldn't have to lose their lives, they could just keep on living. Imagine if Leonardo Da Vinci were still alive. What would he have accomplished by now?"

"Something like this wouldn't have to happen?" Faye repeated. "This would have _never_ happened if not for _you!_ It mye noc!" Strings sprung from Faye's outstretched hand to wrap around Undertaker. He laughed.

"Got me that time, Phantomhive!" He tilted his head until one chartreuse eye was visible. "But can you keep me like this while my zombies are attacking you?" He muttered a command that Faye didn't hear and the zombies at his feet stopped their gnawing. They looked up, blood dripping from their mouths. Faye backed up, slipping a knife into her free hand. They slowly rose to their feet before leaping forward.

She aimed for the one on the left first, her knife imbedding in the center of its forehead. "Nice shot!" Undertaker crowed. "Your aim is as good as ever."

Her heart rate rose faster as the second zombie came within a few feet of her. Faye forced herself to keep her breathing even. Rather than throwing the second knife, Faye lunged forward and stabbed it into the zombies head.

"Very nice, very nice!" Undertaker complimented. "You work very well under pressure, Phantomhive. However…I think you missed one."

Faye spun around to face the hallway she came down earlier and found two zombies there. Losing her focus, she felt the spell around Undertaker fade.

"It mye noc!" Faye screamed. The zombie was already on top of her, pushing her to the ground. The spell took effect, stopping the zombie from biting her, but now Faye was trapped under its body.

She heard the roar of Ronald's mower soon after. "Hey, Undertaker!" Ronald yelled. "Who do you think you are to run around letting all these people die? You think you have the right to experiment with life so you can decide who lives and who dies?"

"Why wouldn't I have that right?" Undertaker asked. "When you think about, it's a natural extension of what you reapers do, just taken a little further."

"If you're so curious about the unknown, you should let us kill you and you can find out what happens to a murderer in the next life," Faye grunted, struggling to breathe under the weight of the inert zombie.

Undertaker cackled. "Maybe someday, Phantomhive, but not yet!" She heard the sound of breaking glass, then the weight on top of her moved as Ronald pulled the zombie off.

"You should have gone after Undertaker," Faye chastised.

Ronald shook his head, looking sad. "I know I'm not good enough to take him on by myself. Maybe with all three of us, but…" He shrugged helplessly. "Undertaker will be long gone by now. Let's finish cleaning up and go home."

William walked into the room, looking angrier than Faye had ever seen. "What were you thinking?" He demanded. "If you'd waited for Ronald and me, we might have Undertaker in our custody at this very moment."

Faye shook her head. "No. We're not that good. Undertaker had to have known that the three of us were here and he never would have allowed himself to be caught. The only way we're going to capture Undertaker is if we have a plan and take him by surprise."

"Is that your conclusion?" William asked, raising his eyebrows. "Then perhaps you can explain to me why you ran off on your own if you did not believe that even the three of us together could have stopped Undertaker."

Faye hung her head, knowing that William had every right to be upset with her. "I lost control," she said. "I'm tired of looking at dead bodies caused by Undertaker, both dead and undead. When I realized he was here…" She trailed off.

William shook his head. "You forgot one of the first rules of the grim reapers, Faye. You must control your emotions. They have no place while we are working."

The trio was silent as they walked back downstairs. Once again, they'd eliminated all the zombies present, but the night felt like nothing but a failure. When they reached the first floor, they found Phipps and Grey there.

"This is the second time they've been hanging around," Ronald mused. "Do you think they're secretly working for Undertaker?"

At the sight of the Queen's butlers, Faye snapped. "Are you happy now?" She shrieked, gesturing at the bodies of toddlers and children around their feet. She couldn't take her anger out on William and Ronald, but these two would do just fine. "You must be so _pleased_ at this sight. You can report back to the Queen that the undead soldiers have another benefit. No discretion for who they'll kill. All those _dangerous_ children threatening the Queen and England won't be a threat now. I'm sure you'll sleep well tonight knowing—"

" _Enough_ ," Grey said, quietly and firmly. Phipps knelt down and gently closed the eyes of one of the children. Grey stared down at his partner, an unreadable look on his face. "Phantomhive, you and those other two are fighting to stop this, aren't you?" He looked up at Faye. "Let us help you."

Faye's eyes widened in shock. She glanced at William, wondering what he thought of this offer. Before William could say anything, a zombie hidden in the rafters jumped down. Without missing a beat, Grey unsheathed his sword and stabbed the zombie through the head. He cleaned the blood from the sword on the zombie's clothing before sheathing it.

"Huh," Ronald mused. "That was pretty impressive."

"What do you think of their offer, Faye?"

She paused. "I've seen these two fight and I've no doubt they're good enough to take on zombies. However…Horestm kit mic." Strings flowed into Phipps' and Grey's heart and mind. "Are you two sincere in your desire to stop the zombies?"

"Yes," they both said in monotones.

"There's your answer," Faye said, removing the spell. "They're good enough, and they mean what they say."

"Very well," William said, his mouth tight as he gave a single nod. "These two may help us for the duration of the zombie epidemic."

Phipps and Grey looked around. "What just happened?" Grey asked, scratching his head and looking around suspiciously.

"You were tested for sincerity," Faye said simply. "You passed."

He narrowed his eyes at her.

Phipps, ignoring his partner's glares, said, "We should give all these children a proper burial."

Faye remembered Undertaker's words about tragedies like this not having to happen and shook her head. "It's better to burn them all. That way, we make sure that Undertaker can't get his hands on them and turn them into zombies." The thought of zombie children made her shudder.

"Maybe that's why Undertaker hasn't been very careful with his zombies," Ronald said, rubbing his chin as he studied the dead bodies. "Maybe he's letting them out on purpose so he can use their victims to create more zombies."

After that, the four men took care of the grisly task of gathering the children, plus the two adults running the orphanage, into one room and burning them. This was one instance in which Faye was willing to let others treat her like a girl and tell her to stand aside.

"So…what now?" Grey asked after the deed was done.

"Now we take you back to Headquarters," Ronald said cheerfully. "You'll have to live there while you're helping us. Faye lives there too." Ronald was more cheerful as they began returning home, happy at the prospect of getting more help, and, hopefully, having less overtime. "I can't believe these two humans are actually good enough to help out the Dispatch Society! How lucky."

A few moments later, Grey said, "Wait, did he just say _humans?_ "


	11. Secrets

**London**

Sebastian ran along the rooftops of the market square, lightly jumping from one to the other. He and Ciel believed that Undertaker was still working as a mortician in order to obtain more bodies to experiment on, but he wasn't working out of his old shop. That meant Sebastian needed to figure out where Undertaker was operating now.

His sensitive hearing caught the sound of voices and he paused. It was rather late for anyone to be out. It was probably nothing, but he decided to check it out anyway. Creeping soundlessly between rooftops, Sebastian crested the slope of a roof bordering the street where he'd heard the noise. He blinked at the sight that greeted him, shocked.

Faye was walking along with Ronald Knox. Though Sebastian was surprised that he happened to come upon her, that wasn't the really surprising part (she was living and working with the grim reapers, after all). The shocking part was the sight of their companions. Charles Grey and Charles Phipps. What in the world were the Queen's personal butlers doing with a grim reaper and grim reaper associate? Based on the interaction of the four, they seemed quite comfortable in each other's presence, meaning that they must have spent at least some time together.

"I want to be the one to face Undertaker," Grey was saying. "The next time he shows up, point him out to me and I'll take him on."

"I'm not sure that's such a great idea," Ronald said, eyeing the young lord. "You're good, Grey. Excellent for a human, but Undertaker is on another level. William and I probably couldn't take on Undertaker together."

Grey waved him off. "Life is boring and dull unless you go out seeking new challenges and I haven't ever faced a problem I couldn't conquer. You've gotta set your sights high, Ronnie. _I'll_ be the one to take out Undertaker. Faye, promise you'll point him out to me?" Sebastian's eye twitched when Lord Grey called Faye's name without using any titles. And the short human was deluded if he possibly thought he could take on Undertaker. Sebastian wasn't sure what the ultimate outcome would be if _he_ fought Undertaker. Or, perhaps he should say _when_ he fought Undertaker.

"He's not exactly hard to miss," Faye said dryly. "He's got grey hair almost down to his feet, long nails, and a habit of carrying around a giant sickle. It's his death scythe, which he somehow still has despite the fact that he's no longer a member of the Grim Reaper Dispatch Society."

Sebastian closed his eyes, savoring the sound of Faye's voice. It felt like he was a parched man in the desert who'd just been given a sip of cool water. He'd been away from her for too long. It wasn't quite as unbearable as it once had been, but he still didn't like it. And, though he was grateful to see Faye and know she was safe, seeing her surrounded by men did not improve his opinion of Faye being away from him. Admittedly, Faye and the men were most likely patrolling for zombies, but he didn't care what the intents of these men were. They were still surrounding _his_ Faye.

He was so caught up in watching Faye that it took him a while to notice he was hearing a noise that did not belong to the London night. Tearing himself away from the sight of Faye, he flipped over two homes before finding the source. Zombies. Fifteen of them. Really, where _was_ Undertaker obtaining all these dead bodies from? Perhaps he'd been stockpiling them for some time now.

Sebastian looked from the zombies back toward the direction of Faye. She and her companions would undoubtedly discover the zombies soon. Or, Sebastian could take care of them and ensure that Faye was not harmed. His young lord claimed that Faye was safer with the grim reapers, but Sebastian didn't believe that at all. Faye was safe when she was by his side. He hated the idea of her facing zombies, which were even a bit of a challenge for him, without him with her.

Leaping to the street, Sebastian knew that he'd have to end these zombies quicker than he ever had before or else risk Faye's group coming upon him. As much as Sebastian would have loved to speak to Faye face to face, she was supposed to believe that Sebastian was helping Ciel bring the secret of the zombies to the Queen. Witnessing him killing the creatures would not convince her of that.

Thoughts of Faye filled Sebastian's mind as he whirled through the crowd of zombies, stabbing and dodging. Before the last zombie even hit the ground, Sebastian was hauling them out of the street and hiding them on a nearby rooftop. As he placed the last two onto the roof, Faye and her companions turned onto the street that had been filled with zombies moments before.

He stared at Faye longingly, wishing he could jump down there and take her away. Watching her act so familiarly with these men infuriated him. She was supposed to be focusing on zombies and Undertaker, not making new friends.

When Faye was almost out of sight, Sebastian moved to follow them along the rooftops. As he did, a thought occurred to him. Somehow, he'd killed those fifteen zombies easier and faster than he ever had before…Was it possible that it was because of Faye? Were thoughts of her enough to make him faster and deadlier? The thought made him pause and Faye soon disappeared from his thoughts.

He had been so sure that caring for another, that loving another, would be nothing but a weakness, but he'd been wrong. Fighting for Faye's sake had made his focus sharper and his moves more efficient. It made him more lethal.

Wasn't it the same in his fight with Claude? The two demons were evenly matched, but Sebastian had been the one who came out on top… _After_ they fell into the nexus, which brought Sebastian to another thought he'd had lately but had been denying. His feelings for Faye had shifted because William's spell on him was broken. He wondered if the spell had somehow altered something about him fundamentally, because he still believed that demons as a whole were not capable of love, but he could not deny his feelings for Faye.

Sebastian gazed up at the night sky, pleased with his revelation that his feelings for Faye made him a more capable fighter. And his acknowledgement that the spell had been broken made him realize that certain limitations put on him because of the spell were no longer in place. There were things he had not been willing to do before because of the spell. He'd been more careful of Faye's feelings. The spell had made him be that way. Now, he felt more selfish in his love for her. He would not put up with her refusal to be with him. He would only use force as a last resort, but Faye was going to be his. Period.

In the meantime, there was something Sebastian had to do to ensure Faye's safety while she was away from his side.

 **Outside Grim Reaper Headquarters**

Charles Grey crossed his arms, a mutinous expression on his face as he, Faye, Ronald, and Phipps returned to the grim reaper headquarters. "I can't believe we didn't find the zombies William sent us to kill. What happened to them?"

"I don't know," Ronald said, a befuddled expression on his face. "The names of fifteen dead people reappeared on the death list, so William sent us out. But before we found anything, the names disappeared from the death list." He shrugged. "I can't explain it. Maybe it's just more of Undertaker's weird experiments."

For once, Faye _hoped_ it was one of Undertaker's experiments. The thought of another faction joining this confusing situation made Faye nervous. There was already the Undertaker and his zombies; the reapers plus Faye, Grey, and Phipps; and the Queen along with Ciel and Sebastian. They didn't need a fourth party complicating the matter further.

"Are you that upset we didn't end up fighting?" Phipps asked his friend. "We didn't find any victims this time either. That's a good thing."

Grey growled. "Of course I'm not upset about there not being victims and of course I'm upset about not getting to fight more zombies!" His eyes lit up with a fanatic light. "We've never had a challenge like this before, Phipps! We never even _knew_ about all this! Zombies and grim reapers. Who knows what else is out there? I've never felt more alive than when working with the Dispatch Society." He turned to look at Ronald. "When do we get death scythes?"

"You have to be a grim reaper to own a death scythe," Ronald explained, blinking rapidly. Faye couldn't tell if Ronald was just taken back or if he was unnerved by Grey's enthusiasm. Since Grey seemed to love violence above everything else, Faye wasn't surprised that he'd taken to zombie hunting with the reapers like a fish takes to water.

Grey pouted before shrugging. "After working against the Queen, I have a feeling I'll be looking for another job soon. How does someone become a grim reaper?"

Faye tuned the conversation out until she suddenly felt a yank on her arm. Her startled gaze rose to meet Grey's suspicious look.

"What?" She demanded, pulling her arm from his grasp.

"What about Sebastian?" Grey asked, his eyes narrowed.

"What about him?" Had she missed the conversation taking a drastic turn? Why was Grey suddenly bringing Sebastian up?

"Now that I know about all this weird stuff going on in the world, your butler seems more suspicious than ever. I killed him once, you know, but it didn't stick. What is he?"

"You what?" Faye asked, surprised. "When? Why?" She shook her head. "Never mind, it doesn't matter. He's gone now. He died weeks ago."

"Really?" Grey asked, his eyebrows raised. "Is that why I saw him with you and your brat of a brother the last time you came to Her Majesty's palace?"

Faye stopped in shock. Shouldn't Sebastian's magic have prevented Grey from recognizing him? Faye shook her head. "That wasn't our butler, that was Lord Sebastian Michaelis, a marquis."

Grey crossed his arms and continued to give Faye his raised eyebrow look, clearly skeptical of her words. How had Grey seen through Sebastian's spell? Did he have some form of supernatural ability? Was it possible that like Faye he could become capable of performing magic?

Before Grey or Faye could say another word, Ronald broke in. "Oh, is that what the demon is posing as now? I always thought it was weird that such an arrogant creature would lower itself to play the role of a butler. A marquis seems much more fitting."

"Demon?" Grey and Phipps exclaimed at the same time. Faye smacked a hand to her face, unable to believe how careless Ronald was in front of these two.

 **Outside Grim Reaper Headquarters (Again)**

Sebastian moved silently through the quiet night. Some demons might consider it suicide to attempt to enter the headquarters of the Grim Reaper Dispatch Society. Fighting against a grim reaper or two or three was one thing. Entering their headquarters where there were entire hordes of them was another. However, Sebastian wasn't here to cause any trouble for them. He only had one target and it wasn't a grim reaper.

Slipping from window to window, Sebastian eventually found Faye's room. He carefully opened the window before sliding inside. He immediately put Faye into a deeper sleep, knowing that otherwise she would likely sense his presence and wake shortly.

Rather than beginning the spell that would bind their lives together immediately, he couldn't help staring down at her. Oddly, the sight of her sleeping peacefully made his heart ache. Part of him wanted to protect her. To ensure that she was never harmed and that only he ever saw this vulnerable side of her. The other part of him wanted to wake her, to drown in the feel of her body and make her feel such pleasure that she dreamed of nothing but staying by his side. Even with the spell broken, she still made him experience feelings and emotions he'd never felt before. As always, it was intoxicating.

His pride had made him say that his feelings for Faye were only the result of the spell. His pride had made him say that the rest of Faye's short life would be enough for him. Neither were true and he would never let her go.

Deciding it was time to begin the spell, he slashed his wrist and put it to Faye's mouth, making sure some of his blood dripped down her throat. Next, he carefully took Faye's hand, the one with his mark already on her finger, and cut her wrist before bringing it to his mouth and swallowing some of her blood. Then he placed their cut wrists together, mixing their blood and reciting the words of the spell. The mark of interlocking stars around Faye's ring finger became more intricate before darkening, changing from light blue to nearly black.

He knew the spell had worked when the cut on her wrist sealed back up, healing completely. He felt their deeper bond snap into place and smiled darkly. No spell could prevent him from finding her now. Unable to help himself, he leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. He looked forward to the day when _very soon_ she would be his forever.

Knowing that if he didn't leave now he might stay until morning, Sebastian forced himself back out the window. He turned to go and saw a blur of red flying at him.

"Bassy!" The blur exclaimed. Sebastian jumped to the side just in time to avoid having Grell's arms thrown around him.

"Bassy," Grell pouted. "How can you be so cold? It's been months since we've seen each other and it's all your fault. William punished me for giving you my chainsaw for your fight with that other demon…and then you never brought it back."

Sebastian shrugged carelessly. "I'm afraid it's gone for good. It dropped into the nexus with me during my fight with Claude and got left there. I'm sure the Dispatch Society can make you a new one."

Grell pouted some more before scooting closer to Sebastian. "I guess I'd rather have _you_ than my death scythe, anyway," he said, walking his fingers up Sebastian's chest. "It's so good to see you, Bassy. And I know why you're here…the only possible reason is because you wanted to see _me._ " Sebastian recoiled, a disgusted look on his face as Grell tried to cuddle up to him. "I'm glad you're here. Now you can give me the compensation I deserve for the punishment William gave me for letting a demon take my death scythe. After all, Bassy, you owe me your life. You never could have beat that other demon without _my_ weapon. So, I was thinking—"

"I'm not here for you," Sebastian interrupted before Grell could go any further. He _really_ didn't want to know what Grell had been about to say. "I came to see my fiancé."

Grell blinked at him uncomprehendingly. "You-you're what?"

"My fiancé," he repeated. "Didn't you know that Lady Phantomhive is staying with the grim reapers? William asked for her help against the zombies."

"Phantomhive?!" Grell screeched, fisting his hands and glaring. "You're choosing that tart over me? How could you, Bassy? After all we've been through together." He turned away from Sebastian, biting one finger. He peeked at Sebastian out of the corner of his eye. "She's just a mortal woman, you know. Her life is fleeting."

At that thought, Grell spun back around with a triumphant smile. He placed his hands on his hips as he laughed. "Yes, you may choose her now, but she'll be gone before you know it, while _I'll_ still be here. You'll come crawling back to me then! But I'll make you wait, I'll make you beg unless you come to me now, Bassy." He put on his most sultry look, letting his red coat slip off one shoulder. "Just come to me now, Bassy. It'll save you so much heartache. I promise I'll make you forget _all_ about that silly human girl."

Sebastian looked disgusted again before a secretive smile flitted across his face. "We'll see what happens with my fiancé, Grell. The world is full of many surprises, even for beings like demons and grim reapers." The next moment, Sebastian disappeared from Grell's sight, leaving Grell confused about Sebastian's cryptic words.


	12. Flirtatious Reconnaissance

**Phantomhive Manor**

"We're getting nowhere," Ciel said in frustration. "We've found no leads on Undertaker's whereabouts and if we can't find him, there's nothing we can do." He paused as he considered his statement. "Sebastian?"

"Yes, my Lord?"

"Do you think it would be possible to somehow mass reverse what Undertaker is doing? To turn the zombies back into truly dead bodies? That would be far more efficient than fighting every zombie that crops up, especially since Undertaker seems to have hundreds at his disposal." Ciel's idea sounded fanciful even to himself, but he wanted to be doing _something_ productive. Running into so many dead ends was driving him mad. And he wished he knew how Faye was doing. He hoped she was safe.

Sebastian cupped his chin. "I must say that I don't know, my Lord. Being unaware of the process Undertaker uses to create the zombies in the first place I don't know if it would be possible. However, I can say that we won't find out unless we try."

Ciel nodded. "I guess we're going to do what the Queen wanted after all. Sebastian, I order to capture one of the zombies alive. So to speak. I want you to see if you can discover the secret of their creation and then find a way to reverse it."

"Yes, my Lord," Sebastian said with a bow. He noted with some annoyance that without Faye and the other servants around, he'd fallen back into his old patterns as the Phantomhive butler. He'd have to work on that. A marquis would never bow to an earl.

 **London**

Sebastian silently patrolled the dark streets of London. This was his fifth night doing so. Unlike the grim reapers, he did not have a convenient list to alert him to the presence of zombies. Instead, he was reduced to nightly patrols. However, he knew the zombies would show up sooner or later, as Undertaker seemed either unable or unwilling to keep all the zombies contained.

When he heard a scream and sounds of rabid growling, he immediately switched directions, jumping from rooftop to rooftop toward the sound.

~.~

"Firnai nostu ectum." Faye chanted the spell to find an evil soul. A brightly colored string burst into existence.

"Quickly, Faye," William urged. "It will be best if we get to the zombies before there are many victims."

"I'd prefer there be _no_ victims," Faye said, running after William. There were only five zombies that night, so only Faye and William had gone.

"You already know that's not possible," William chastised. "There are already two names on the death list from zombie victims."

"That doesn't mean a girl can't dream," Faye said, before falling into silence to save her breath.

They followed the string until they reached the street where it disappeared. Faye and William stopped dead, shocked at the sight that greeted them. In addition to the two predicted victims, four zombies lay unmoving in the street. One was still undead and gnashing its teeth uselessly as Sebastian held its arms from behind.

"This is it, Faye," William said, looking at her from the corner of his eye. "You said that you were willing to fight against the demon if he got in your way."

"Yes," Faye agreed, bowing her head for a moment. She had vainly hoped that such a situation would not arise, but here Sebastian was, capturing a zombie for the Queen.

William leapt into action, aiming his death scythe at Sebastian. By the time William reached the spot where Sebastian had been, Sebastian was already ten feet away, his zombie prisoner still in his arms. William took a moment to adjust his glasses with his pruner before moving so fast he disappeared from Faye's sight. Her heart sped up as she tried to keep track of Sebastian's and William's fight. She didn't want either of them to get hurt.

Eventually, Sebastian had to abandon his zombie captive. The zombie staggered, off balance from being let go of so abruptly. Faye immediately threw a knife into its forehead before turning her attention back to the fight taking place.

The two beings paused, William on top of a building and Sebastian standing on the street below. Sebastian wiped blood off his cheek as William adjusted his glasses. Seeing on opportunity, Faye rushed forward with one hand held out and chanted, "Hoctum irarae nym." It was the spell to bind a demon. It had never worked well before. Faye, a mere human, simply wasn't powerful enough to bind a demon for long. However, she hoped that by interfering, she could break up the fight.

To her shock, the binding threads actually _stuck_ this time. Brightly colored strings wrapped around his limbs before anchoring themselves in the ground. As always, the spell made it difficult for Sebastian to hold onto his human form. His eyes burned red and his teeth sharpened. What in the world was going on here? Had she become more powerful somehow? Or was Sebastian weaker today for some reason?

She was so surprised that she barely registered William flying at Sebastian, his death scythe posed to spear Sebastian's heart.

"No!" She shrieked. Her binding spell on Sebastian dropped as she turned her attention to William. "Roct myr nukt!" Unlike most of Faye's spells, the binding spells for reapers didn't involve brightly colored strings. Instead, red transparent walls and a ceiling formed around William, boxing him in. William's death scythe slammed into the wall rather than Sebastian's chest, mere inches away. The force of the impact caused William to bounce backward into the opposite wall.

"Faye!" William chastised, raising his voice uncharacteristically as he turned to look at her.

"I told you I was willing to fight to _stop_ Ciel and Sebastian, not hurt them," Faye said, her breathing ragged and her heart still racing from the fear of Sebastian almost dying. "Did you really expect me to stand back and do nothing?" She took a deep breath and stood up straight, smoothing her hair back. "Really, I should have gone after you from the beginning. This way, neither of you can hurt the other."

William glowered in his deadpan way before putting his death scythe away. "Fine. This conflict is over for tonight. You may release me, Faye."

Faye waited a moment before releasing the binding. William took a few steps before looking between Sebastian and Faye. "I hope you understand that our task would be easier and our way clearer if you had let me finish the demon off."

Sebastian smirked. "But she can't do that, can she, reaper? Isn't it obvious? Lady Faye cares too much for me to allow such harm to come to me."

Surprise flickered through William's eyes. "Is this true Faye? I had assumed your concern for the demon rested upon your concern for your brother. Without Sebastian, your brother would be at greater risk for harm…Do you care for the demon of your own accord?"

Faye could feel the blush forming on her face. She opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. She didn't know what to say, and she resented the feeling of having to defend herself or explain herself when this whole affair as William's fault anyway.

Sebastian's smirk grew. "See? She doesn't deny it. How shameful for the Grim Reaper Dispatch Society to associate with someone in love with a demon. Why don't you save yourself trouble in the future and just hand her back to me?"

"Sebastian!" Faye exclaimed, her cheeks growing hotter.

"I-I…" William seemed flustered and he picked a shop to stare at rather than looking at Faye or Sebastian. "I can see that the two of you have things to discuss. I'll leave you to it, then. Faye, I'll see you later." Faye watched in disbelief as William, without throwing a last glance at either of them, walked away.

"How kind of him to give us some alone time," Sebastian said conversationally. He appeared in front of Faye the next moment, making her gasp. His eyes still glowed red as he cupped Faye's chin and tilted her face up. "At least you've now admitted to feeling _something_ for me, by your actions if nothing else."

Faye opened her mouth and closed it before saying, "Now is not the time for this. We're fighting for opposite sides right now, Sebastian."

Sebastian's eyes narrowed. "If you had your way, my Lady, it would never be the time for this." He wrapped his free arm around her waist and pulled her closer. "I don't care about us being on opposite sides. I have far more _important_ goals to consider. Besides, the only reason we're not on the same side is because of your brother. It's not _my_ desire to fight against you, but I'm still bound to follow your brother's orders. And, if I recall correctly, you _did_ give me your permission to woo you."

Faye's eyes widened. "You're going to do that _now_?"

Sebastian chuckled as he nuzzled Faye's neck. "I see no reason to waste this opportunity. We have so few chances to see each other these days." Truth be told, Sebastian couldn't hold himself back. It had been too long since he'd spent time with Faye. Having her gone for so long was driving him mad, though it was more tolerable now that he could sense her presence again. It took all his willpower to do nothing but kiss her the night he'd performed the spell to bind their lives together.

He turned his head and began kissing his way up her neck. Faye gasped, her hands automatically coming up to cup the back of his head. Sebastian made a sound of approval, burying one hand in her hair and pulling gently, forcing Faye to arch her neck. He swirled his tongue around her pulse and her hands tightened.

"S-Sebastian," Faye stammered. She _hated_ that she became a stuttering fool every time Sebastian touched her. She hadn't always gone weak-kneed around him, had she? Maybe that had changed along with her feelings for Sebastian.

"Yes, my love?" He murmured against her neck.

She forced her voice to be deadpan. "Wooing me on a street with dead zombies isn't the most romantic choice you could have made."

He pulled back, a look of surprise on his face. "You're right, of course. My apologies, Lady Faye." He bent down and scooped Faye into his arms. She gave a gasp of surprise as Sebastian jumped onto the roof of the nearest building. She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck as he jumped from roof to roof.

Eventually, they reached the Big Ben clock tower and he stopped. "I trust that this location is more suitably romantic for wooing, my Lady?"

Faye was sure the view was amazing, but she found herself unable to look away from Sebastian's eyes. What _did_ she feel for this demon? Attraction certainly, and undoubtedly concern for his safety. She enjoyed his quick wit, intelligence, and near flawless ingenuity in coping with unforeseen problems or changes that came his way. Was that a type of love?

Faye's thoughts scattered as Sebastian lowered his head and took her lips with his.

 **Phantomhive Manor**

"You look cheerful," Ciel commented with raised eyebrows as Sebastian walked into his office.

"I do?" Sebastian asked in surprise, putting a hand to his face as though he might be able to feel the happiness there.

"Yes," Ciel said, narrowing his visible eye as he wondered what had made his former butler so happy. It wasn't as though Sebastian had walked in with a grin on his face. _That_ would probably have unnerved Ciel. He simply seemed to have an aura of happy contentment around him, which was particularly odd considering how insufferable he'd been ever since Faye had left. "Does this mean that you had a breakthrough with the zombies?"

Sebastian blinked once, as though he had to think a moment before answering. "No, I'm afraid not, my Lord. The grim reapers interfered before I had a chance." He paused. "Might I suggest that our task would be easier if you told your sister the truth? The grim reapers are formidable foes and having to fight them at every turn will greatly impede your goals. If Lady Faye were with us—"

Ciel held up a hand to cut Sebastian off. "I'm well aware of how you feel about my sister being away from your sight, Sebastian. And _you_ should be aware that I don't much care. We can handle this on our own. If you can't handle a few grim reapers, you're not worthy to call yourself the Phantomhive but—" Ciel broke off as he realized what he was about to say. Sebastian raised his eyebrows in mocking inquiry. Ciel clenched his teeth as he forced himself to say, "If you can't handle a few grim reapers, then how can you imagine yourself worthy of marrying a Phantomhive?"

 **A/N:** Aaaand Sebastian gets to keep his secret. For now. You'd think after dealing with humans for millennia he'd realize that keeping a secret like making your somewhat girlfriend immortal is not a good idea.


	13. Trouble

**London**

Faye skulked along the edges of a building in the twilight, hoping to come across a cracked window or an unguarded door where she could listen in.

She had been suspicious about Undertaker's vast number of zombies for a little while now. Yes, he was an actual undertaker and had a steady supply of dead bodies because of that, but that could not account for the dozens of zombies that kept appearing. Someone else had to be supplying him with dead bodies as well.

William felt Faye's idea had little merit and wasn't interested in pursuing it, but William was used to thinking like a grim reaper. Faye, on the other hand, was used to thinking like a Phantomhive. One of Faye's and Ciel's jobs as the Queen's Watchdog had been to bring down a gang that was selling medical universities and scientists cadavers to study. Selling cadavers for science was not illegal. However, digging up graves to steal corpses and creating corpses from live people was. Faye found it entirely believable that Undertaker had hired a similar gang to provide him with a steady stream of fresh corpses. If they could find this gang and stop them, it would limit the amount of zombies at least until Undertaker found a new supplier.

Using the Phantomhive's contacts in London's criminal underground, Faye head rumors about such a gang. Based on all the information she'd collected, it was likely that this building was the gang's hideout. All she needed now was confirmation. William, who felt his job included _only_ the written duties of a grim reaper, wouldn't care about this gang even if Faye confirmed their existence. Phipps and Grey, however, would. If this was the hideout of the gang killing people for Undertaker, Faye would return with the two Charles and they would put a permanent end to this gang.

Faye heard grumbling and quiet voices from around the corner of the building. Kneeling, she carefully peeked around and saw three men gathered around a carriage. One of the men grunted as he hauled something out of the back of the carriage. Another man came forward to help carry whatever it was. She narrowed her eyes at the sight of something long and thin wrapped in dark cloth. It definitely looked the right size and shape to be a body. The last man hurried to open a door to the building and the other two maneuvered their heavy bundle.

"Well, well," a voice behind Faye said. "What have we here?"

Faye spun around, her hand immediately going for one of her knives.

"Hey!" The man yelled as Faye lunged. He cursed as the knife came at him, barely dodging before grabbing Faye's wrist and yanking it backward. Faye yelped and dropped the knife. Another man came forward and grabbed her other wrist. Faye cursed and struggled. The men's hold on her wrists was at too awkward an angle for her to use her magic. She needed her hands more free than this.

"Stop…fighting…you hussy!" The first man grunted, struggling to hold Faye still. A blow connected with side of Faye's head and her vision went white. She forced herself to hold still as she blinked, trying to get her vision back to normal. _It's okay_ , she told herself. She'd get another opportunity to free herself later, but for that to happen, her captors had to believe her docile.

She made herself go limp as the two men dragged her inside the building. Within she saw a corner stacked with a small pile of the bundles she was quite certain were human corpses.

"What's this?" A man demanded. "Why'd you bring a girl in here?"

"Why'd you bring a _live_ girl?" Another man corrected with a snicker.

"She was sneakin' around outside," one of the men holding Faye declared. "She saw you guys unloading a body from the carriage."

"Who sent you?" The man who seemed to be the leader demanded. He came over and grabbed Faye's chin, forcing her to look at him. "Why are you here?"

Faye glared at him. The noise of the conversation seemed to be attracting attention and more men came in. There were at least ten now. Dread creeped over Faye as she realized she was in over her head. She had always had help of some sort or another when she investigated as the Queen's Watchdog. She should have brought Phipps and Grey with her rather than investigating alone.

"I-I was just passing by," Faye lied, stammering intentionally. "I-I don't understand what's going on here."

"Lier," One of the men holding her growled, tightening his grip and pulling her arm backward. Faye winced. "She had a knife on her. Tried to stab Peter with it."

The leader narrowed his eyes. "Trying to move in on our territory, huh? Whatever gang you come from may have thought they were smart to send a girl to spy on us, but that won't help you none. Undertaker pays us good money for these corpses and we won't let anyone else move in and affect our profits." He grinned as he looked at Faye. "You're going to make a lovely corpse and earn us even more money. Slit her throat, boys!"

Faye, as independent and capable as she was, had to admit that she needed help. "I'm not from some gang like you scum," Faye spat, then smiled darkly. "But I do have friends in low places." Faye yanked her left hand closer, surprising her captor. She craned her neck until she could reach the finger with Sebastian's mark and bit until she tasted blood.

"What's she doing?" One of the men exclaimed in disgust.

"She's gone crazy," the man holding her left wrist said, dropping her arm and backing up as though crazy might be catching.

In a moment, however, all the men's attention switched from Faye to the cloud of black smoke forming behind her. When Sebastian first created the connection between the two of them, he told Faye that it would allow him to sense her wherever she was _and_ allow her to summon him if the need arose. She had never done so before, but now seemed like an appropriate time.

All the men stood on the other side of the room now, staring in horror and fear as Sebastian materialized behind Faye. He made a sound of disapproval as he picked up Faye's hand, licking the spot where she'd wounded herself. His red-eyed gaze seemed to pierce the men and freeze them on the spot. "It is unforgivable that these degenerates caused you to harm yourself, my Lady." He gently kissed the spot he'd just licked and Faye realized the pain from her finger was gone. Had he healed her somehow? "I'm afraid the only possible recourse is death."

The men panicked at that and tried to scatter, but less than a minute later only one was left alive. Sebastian had him pinned by the neck against the wall. "Now," Sebastian said, tilting his head and smiling pleasantly, blood flecking his cheek, "you're going to tell me where I can find Undertaker."

"I-I-I…" The man stammered, too terrified to get anything else out. His eyes went to his dead gang members. "We don't know! He tells us to meet him at a different place every time. We have to wait until he tells us where to meet him."

Sebastian's eyes went cold.

"I swear!" The man yelled, struggling against Sebastian's hold.

"Tut, tut, tut," a reproving voice said from a corner. "You all are becoming _quite_ the nuisance. Just because you've gotten rid of one of my suppliers is no reason to think you've stopped me. Progress is inevitable, you know."

"Undertaker," Faye growled, clenching her fists.

Sebastian snapped the neck of the man he'd been holding and turned toward the former grim reaper.

Undertaker sighed. "Really Phantomhive, I was quite fond of your parents and rather like your brother. It'd be such a shame to have to kill you to stop you from getting in my way. The demon, on the other hand, I have no problem with killing." He lunged forward, swinging his death scythe.

Sebastian jumped back, then caught the blade between two gloved hands. He moved his head farther back from the blade. "Really, Undertaker, is this any way for gentlemen to behave? I'm unarmed, you know."

Undertaker smiled and tilted his head. "Can beings such as us be _called_ gentlemen? Neither of us are really _men_ , right, butler? Such common labels don't belong to the likes of us."

"That's _marquis_ now, actually," Sebastian informed him, shoving the blade and Undertaker away.

Undertaker cackled. "Marquis! Congratulations, Sebastian. How proud you must be to have moved up in a meaningless class system dictated by tyrannical humans of little worth. Your poor master must be beside himself." The aura around him changed as he tilted his head until both his eyes became visible. "I'll be doing the earl a great favor by ridding him of you."

Undertaker renewed his attack, slashing at Sebastian faster and faster. In the confined room, Sebastian had little space to maneuver and couldn't risk getting close to Faye, which limited him even more.

The moment Faye saw an opening, she flung a hand forward and chanted, "Roct myr nukt!" She knew the spell to bind grim reapers had little effect on Undertaker, but if she gave Sebastian just a few—Faye's thought cut off abruptly as she stared at Undertaker, encased in a transparent red prison, in shock.

When Faye's binding spell took hold, Undertaker had swung his death scythe at the walls just as he had last time. But _this_ time, rather than the spell shattering on impact…it held.

How was this possible? First, Faye had been able to bind Sebastian when she'd never been able to bind a demon before. Now, she'd bound Undertaker, when she couldn't manage that either before. How and when did her magic become more powerful? Had something happened to cause this?

Undertaker tapped the walls of his prison with his death scythe. "Interesting," he said pensively. "You want to know what else is interesting?" He paused, cupping his chin and studying Sebastian. He grinned as he turned toward Faye. "That the spell the reapers cast on Sebastian to make him infatuated with you, Phantomhive, is gone. Yet for some reason he's still working with you. Odd, isn't it?"

Faye's gaze jumped to Sebastian and the look of shock on his face told Faye that Undertaker wasn't lying. Faye's concentration wavered in her fear and surprise and the binding spell weakened. Undertaker's death scythe crashed into the wall again, this time shattering his prison.

Faye cried out in pain and dropped to her knees.

"This isn't the end, demon!" Undertaker promised before fleeing.

Rather than chasing after Undertaker, Sebastian appeared beside Faye, kneeling next to her. She jerked away from him, and he froze, his arms still reaching toward her. The two stared at each other, Faye's eyes fearful and Sebastian's unreadable. If the spell was broken, Faye and Ciel had no protection against Sebastian. There was nothing stopping him from eating Ciel's soul. And nothing stopping him from killing Faye after suffering the humiliation of being made to fall for a human.

To Faye's surprise, Sebastian stiffly got to his feet and bowed. "Excuse me, my Lady, if you are all right now, I'm afraid your brother has need of me." The next moment, he was gone.

Faye clutched at her racing heart, wondering what she should do now. Why was the infatuation spell gone when it should have lasted for centuries? As Faye calmed down, she began to think more logically. When she called for Sebastian's help that night, he came. And as far as she was aware, her brother was still safe and sound. Why?

If she wanted answers to her questions, there was only once place for her to go.

 **Phantomhive Manor**

Faye somehow felt like an interloper standing outside Phantomhive Manor. She hadn't been here in weeks and hadn't talked to Ciel or anyone else from the household aside from Sebastian since she left.

She was still standing on the porch when the door opened to reveal Sebastian. "It's late, my Lady. You should come inside rather than standing out here in the dark and the cold."

"I should have known you would sense my presence," she said as she followed Sebastian inside and into one of the sitting rooms. Sebastian went around the room lighting candles, but Faye stayed standing.

"Of course, my Lady. I can always sense your presence, remember?"

"Not when I'm at the grim reaper's headquarters," Faye informed him. "Their presence interferes with the connection you created between us."

"So that's why I couldn't sense you when you left," Sebastian said, a secretive smile playing at the corners of his mouth. By binding Faye's life to his, the grim reapers' magic no longer interfered with his ability to sense Faye anywhere. Though he was a gratified to hear that Faye had not put a spell on herself to prevent Sebastian from sensing her, like he'd feared she had.

"Why…" Faye began to say before she faltered. She tried again. "Why haven't you eaten Ciel's soul if the reaper's spell on you is gone?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Sebastian asked, walking toward her. He cupped her cheek and ran his thumb across her lips. "I made another deal after the one I made with your brother, if you recall. As long as you keep up your end of our deal, I plan to keep mine."

Faye blinked and stepped back, away from Sebastian's hand. "That doesn't answer my question and you know it."

Sebastian sighed and shrugged. "The spell broke, but my feelings for you didn't change, not really. I don't know why. Perhaps the spell changed me somehow." He shrugged again. "Regardless, my Lady, despite the spell being gone, nothing has really changed."

"When did the spell break?" She asked, still tense.

"When I fell into the nexus, I believe. Though it took me some time to realize that the spell was gone. As I said, its absence really didn't change anything."

Faye had to stop herself from exclaiming, "That long!?" That meant that Sebastian proposed to her _after_ the spell broke. "But demons can't love," Faye argued. "This doesn't make sense."

Anger flitted through Sebastian's eyes. Once again, Faye was denying his feelings. He _really_ didn't like it when she did that. "All you really know of demons, my Lady, is what William has told you, and I believe he has a rather biased opinion. You could perhaps say that I do not love the same as a human. Some altruistic humans may say that if I truly loved you, I would let you and Ciel go and live your lives in peace without me. I myself consider that to be stupidity and not love. Love is selfish and I have no intention of ever letting you go."

Sebastian moved forward and Faye forced herself to stand still. "My Lady," Sebastian said gently, cupping her cheek again. "Have you noticed any differences in my behavior toward you since my return? Or toward your brother?"

"No," Faye admitted, her heart rate rising again, but not because of fear this time.

He smiled down at her. "You may even use your truth spell to verify the veracity of my feelings for you if you'd like, my Lady."

Faye stared up at him. Sebastian's attitude toward her and Ciel _hadn't_ changed after he'd returned from his fight with Claude. Faye had suspected nothing and been shocked to hear the spell was broken. And with the spell broken, the only logical explanation for Sebastian to not eat Ciel's soul was because he still had feelings for Faye.

Despite Sebastian's words, Faye got the impression that he'd prefer she _not_ use the truth spell, that instead she trust him. "No," Faye said softly, staring into Sebastian's eyes as one of her hands unconsciously rose to grasp the lapel his jacket. "I don't need to use the spell."

He stared at her for a second longer, then she was in his arms and he was kissing her. Her arms came around his shoulders as his wrapped around her lower back. He felt like he couldn't get close enough, like he wouldn't be able to _breathe_ if he stopped kissing her. Undertaker needed to be stopped _now,_ because Sebastian couldn't take Faye living apart from him for much longer.

Sebastian tore off one glove, needing to feel more of Faye on his bare skin, before burying his hand in her hair. Faye's carefully pinned bun came undone and her dark hair tumbled around her shoulders.

Before Sebastian knew it, they were on the couch and he was on top of her. Faye tensed and Sebastian immediately remembered why that was a bad idea. He was across the room the next second and Faye sat up. "I'm sorry," he apologized. "I didn't mean to frighten you."

Faye shook her head wordlessly, trying to prevent a panic attack by breathing deeply. Before Sebastian, she'd never been kissed before. And while she quite enjoyed kissing him, she did _not_ have positive memories associated with men being on top of her. Not after the depraved occult she'd been sold to after the original Phantomhive mansion burned down.

"No," Faye said, shaking her head. "It's all right. Come here, Sebastian." Sebastian came over and cautiously sat on the couch, barely within touching distance of her. Faye looked at him with determined eyes. "I will _not_ be cowed by my past, and regardless of anything else, I trust you to stop if I ask you to. Just…don't lie on top of me."

Sebastian felt…tender perhaps…at Faye's words. He wasn't even sure what the feeling was. He wasn't used to feeling such soft emotions. Only Faye brought them out in him. He felt humbled that Faye would hold such trust in him. That she wouldn't require using her truth spell to believe his words about his feelings and that she'd trust him with her body.

Sebastian gently pulled Faye onto his lap. "Is this all right, my Lady?" He caressed her cheek with his ungloved hand, luxuriating in the soft feeling of her skin. With her hair down and her determined eyes she looked wild and sultry, with a barely discernable vulnerable twist to her mouth. It was only out of care and concern for Faye that he was able to hold himself back.

"Yes," Faye said, her hand cupping his own. Her eyes flickered toward the window. "I should leave, though. It's past midnight."

Sebastian frowned and ran his thumb across Faye's lips. "You can't think I'd let you go out alone in the dark, my Lady. Stay here tonight. I'll wake you and return you to the dispatch society before your brother wakes."

Faye hesitated a moment before giving in. "All right."

Sebastian stood, Faye still in his arms, and carried her to her old room. As he stood outside her door, he felt a twinge of guilt for not telling her about binding her life to his. Later. He would tell her later.


	14. Truth

**London**

Faye lurched back from a zombie lunging for her neck. "It mye noc!" She chanted. Strings flew from her hand to wrap around the zombie trapping it in place. The next moment, Faye found a zombie's mouth attached to the arm she was using to perform her spell. She let out a small shriek of pain as the zombie's teeth sank deep. She plunged a knife into the creature's head before throwing the same knife into the forehead of the trapped zombie.

Both zombies fell to the ground. Faye cursed as she pulled up her sleeve and tried to look at the damage to her arm in the dim light from the street lamps. Unlike the silly myths that were springing up about zombies, real zombie's bites didn't turn the victim into a zombie. Only Undertaker could do that. A zombie bite was, however, undoubtedly filled with all sorts of nasty bacteria. Faye would have to get the wound thoroughly cleaned the moment they got back to headquarters.

"Oye!" Grey yelled as he ran his sword through the stomach of a zombie trying to get at Faye. "You're on a battlefield, Phantomhive. Pay attention, will you? You can tend to your clothes later." The zombie struggled, alternately turning his head to gnash its teeth and Grey and turning back toward Faye to try to pull itself off of the sword.

"That's not what I was doing," Faye said with a glare. "And have a care where you're stabbing, Grey. A stab to the stomach isn't going to do a thing to these creatures. You have to go for the head."

"I know," Grey shrugged off. "But it's kind of funny to see them struggling, don't you think?"

Faye gave Grey a disgusted look and went back to the fight. A few minutes later, she realized her arm no longer hurt and she felt a rush of dread. Was the injury worse than she thought and shock had set in? Or was some infection that dulled pain already taking hold?

She backed herself into a corner and made a wall of zombies by bounding several in place to block the way to her before taking another look at her arm. Faye's breathe left her in a rush as she stared at her arm. All she saw was…dried blood. She frantically grasped at her injured arm with her other hand, applying pressure as she tried to find the wound. Nothing. There was nothing there. How was that possible?

The sound of fighting drew Faye's attention back to the world around her. Now was not the time to worry over this. She had more immediate concerns. Pulling her sleeve back down her arm, Faye methodically killed the zombies she'd bound. She would deal with the mystery of her healed arm later.

 **Grim Reaper Dispatch Society Headquarters.**

"The wound healed completely in a matter of minutes," Faye said, pacing back and forth within William's office. "I almost thought I was crazy and that I must not have been bitten as badly as I thought, except for the holes in my sleeve and the blood on my arm."

She paused a moment to show her proof. The sleeve had ragged holes rimmed with blood, and dark red was smeared all over her lower arm. William, sitting behind his desk, blinked in surprise at this evidence.

" _And,_ " Faye began pacing again as she continued her rambling, "somehow my magic has been more powerful lately. I was able to trap Undertaker when I've never been able to do that before. I was able to bind Sebastian when I've never been able to successfully bind a demon before." She stopped again to hold her hands out helplessly. "What is going on with me, William? My magic becoming more powerful is one thing, but now I'm _healing_? How is that even possible?"

William stayed silent as he regarded Faye through his glasses. Finally, he asked, "Would you be willing to let yourself be harmed so I may see what you're speaking of?"

Faye stared at William before silently taking out one of her knives and pulling up her clean sleeve to reveal pale flesh. She should have thought of testing the whole healing thing herself. Maybe all this stress was getting to her and she'd somehow hallucinated the wound. The blood on her arm could be from one of the many zombies she'd killed (or re-killed) that night.

She and William stared at Faye's arm intently as she cut herself. A thin line of blood welled up and she immediately felt the sting. Time seemed to come to a standstill as they waited for something to happen. Soon enough, the cut resealed itself. William frowned and brushed the blood away from where Faye's cut had been, verifying that it really had healed.

Faye's blood ran cold. "What's happening to me?" She whispered.

At her tone, William looked up, then his eyes widened in alarm. "Faye, you've gone white. Sit down." He helped her to sit in the chair across from his desk. He'd never seen her look so shaken before. "I…I…" He floundered helplessly for a moment, not sure what he should do. "Is there anything I can get for you?"

Her eyes flashed angrily. "You can tell me what on earth is going on with me. Why am I more powerful? How is my body healing of its own accord? You know more about magic than I do, William. Help me find the answers."

Despite the late hour, William proceeded to perform test after test, most of them magical in nature, on Faye to determine what was happening to her. He muttered to himself at regular intervals, trying to guess what the cause could be. He guesses ranged from the alignment of the stars, which he said some cultures believed affected magic, to changes in her diet, which Faye thought was ludicrous.

The sun had just risen when William, after performing his latest test, sank down to his knees, his face unreadable. He'd taken his suitcoat off and rolled up his shirt sleeves sometime during in the night. Wisps of sweaty hair fell into his eyes. He looked more disheveled than Faye had ever seen him.

"Well?" She demanded, exhausted, frustrated, and scared. "Have you run out of tests to perform? Do you need a break? Why did you stop?"

He opened his mouth and closed it. Reaching up to adjust his tie, William cleared his throat and looked away awkwardly. Clearing his throat again, he looked at Faye and adjusted his glasses. "I…believe I have found the cause of your mysterious increase in power and the sudden appearance of your healing ability…"

"Well?" Faye prompted when he didn't continue. "What is it?"

He looked at Faye with regret in his eyes. "It appears, Faye, that your life force has been bound to a demon's."

 **Phantomhive Manor**

Faye threw open the doors to Phantomhive Manor, more livid than she could ever remember being.

"Lady Phantomhive," Agni said in surprise. "Welcome back…Is something wrong?"

"Where is Sebastian?" She demanded.

Agni and Soma exchanged concerned looks. "Perhaps you'd like some tea to calm your nerves first, sister?" Soma suggested. "Agni could prepare some—"

"I don't want tea, Soma," Faye interrupted. "I would like to speak with Sebastian." She annunciated each word. "Where is he?"

"Lady Phantomhive, you look exhausted. I'm not sure now would be the best time for a conversation between you and the Marquis," Agni commented.

"What has happened to rile you up like this?" Soma asked. "And where have you been? Another assignment from the Queen?"

Faye made a noise of frustration and stalked passed the two men. She hitched her skirts up and climbed the stairs. Sebastian was probably in Ciel's office. With him no longer being the Phantomhive butler, there really wasn't a reason for him to be anywhere else.

The prince and butler watched her go. Soma sighed and shook his head once Faye was out of earshot. "The path to love is never easy. I wish Sebastian luck." Agni nodded his agreement.

Faye flung open the door to Ciel's study and it crashed into the wall. Ciel jumped and Sebastian turned to face her. Ciel had a surprised look on his face, while Sebastian had a look of polite inquiry.

"Faye!" Ciel exclaimed. "What on earth are you doing? What's wrong?"

"You," Faye growled, glaring and pointing at Sebastian. "You did this."

"Did what?" Ciel demanded, looking between Faye and Sebastian. "What have you done, Sebastian?"

Sebastian's look didn't change in the slightest. "Despite what you may believe, my Lady, I'm afraid I haven't quite mastered the art of mind reading. Perhaps you could elaborate on what I've done that has you so upset?"

Faye's glare became fiercer. "Don't pretend as though you don't know, demon. There could only possibly be one thing you've done that would have me so upset." Her eyes narrowed. "Unless there are other dark secrets you're keeping?"

"What is going on?" Ciel asked, slamming his hands on his desk. "I demand one of you tell me this instant." He glared at the two of them, but neither paid him any attention. Faye's and Sebastian's eyes were locked on one another.

Faye's use of the word demon irritated Sebastian. It used to be all she called him. It was meant to be a slur, something to put distance between them and to deny his existence as an individual being. For months she'd only called him demon, refusing to see him as anything other than as William portrayed all demons. Finally, he shrugged, a nonchalant expression on his face. "Are you really that surprised, my Lady? I told you before that I will not allow anything to take you away from me. This way, I can assure that you are protected whether you are with me or not." His eyes flashed. "And I am, after all, a mere demon, correct? What else could you expect from me?"

Faye clenched her fists, her breathing heavy. "When? When did you do it?"

"Before our previous conversation," he admitted, though his face showed no regret. "Actually, before our previous two conversations. Really, there's little point in you being upset now, my Lady. It's already been done and cannot be undone. Not without killing you, anyway."

Fed up, Ciel got to his feet and stomped around to the other side of his desk, standing in between Faye and Sebastian. " _What_ did Sebastian do?"

" _This_ ," Faye said, pulling up her sleeve and pulling out one of her knives. The next moment, the knife was in Sebastian's hand.

"There will be no need for that, my Lady. I'm quite capable of explaining the situation to your brother without you harming yourself."

Ciel crossed his arms and scowled, confused. "I don't care who does it or how, just tell me what's going on."

"As you are aware, my Lord, I desire for your sister to be my wife. My companion, if you will. Her mortality is an obstacle to that. Or, _was_ an obstacle. I eliminated it by binding her life to mine. It is now almost as difficult to kill her as it is to kill me, and she will live a much longer life."

Ciel stared at Sebastian with a dumbfounded expression, unable to believe his ears. Slowly, he backed away until he stood closer to Faye. Anger took over his face. "How dare you go behind our backs like this. How dare you change my sister's fate without telling her."

"That's rather ironic coming from you," Sebastian said, raising his eyebrows. "Given the secrets you yourself are keeping from Lady Faye."

"What secrets?" Faye asked with narrowed eyes. She grabbed Ciel's shoulders and spun him around to face her. "What's Sebastian talking about, Ciel? What are you doing?"

Ciel crossed his arms and pouted, his face set in a mutinous expression.

Taking it upon himself to explain things once again, Sebastian said, "Your brother lied to you, my Lady. He never had any intention of helping the Queen gain an army of zombies. He merely thought it would be easier to stop Undertaker with the Queen's support. He told her he planned to help her so he would still have her resources at his disposal."

Faye glanced between Ciel and Sebastian in confusion. "But why would you keep this from me, Ciel? Why would you let me believe you did plan to help the Queen?"

Ciel glared at Sebastian, his anger a nearly palpable thing. "Because I don't want you marrying that bastard."

"You lied for my sake?" Faye asked quietly, her eyes widening at the realization. "You wanted to keep me and Sebastian apart." Some of the anger went out of Faye. She wasn't happy with what Ciel had done, but she couldn't be too angry with him over it. He was trying to look out for his older sister and doubtlessly didn't know what else to do.

"Well," Sebastian said, clapping his hands together once, "now that all that has been cleared out of the way, there's no reason why you cannot return home, Lady Faye. I will arrange for—"

"I'm not returning," Faye interrupted. "I'm still working with the grim reapers and they need me close by so I'm available at a moment's notice."

Sebastian blinked in surprise, not expecting Faye's reaction at all. "There's no reason we cannot work with the grim reapers. It's want you've wanted all along, isn't it? If we pool our resources, we'll be even more effective against Undertaker and his zombie hordes."

"You do not need me living here to work with the grim reapers or to pool our resources," Faye retorted. She bent down to kiss Ciel's head. "I left rather abruptly and need to get back. I didn't even finish my report on the latest instance of zombie attacks. If you need me, Ciel, let me know. I'll tell William that you and Sebastian are also working to stop Undertaker and see what he says."

Without another look at Sebastian, Faye turned and left. She made it to the front yard before Sebastian appeared beside her.

"My Lady," he said, then paused. In a surprisingly quiet voice he said, "I do not wish for you to be angry with me, Faye."

She whirled around to face him, a disbelieving look on her face. "What do you expect me to feel, Sebastian? You asked me once before if you could bind my life to yours and I told you no."

"I expect you to understand that I am a demon in love and that is something very different from a human being in love."

"Then tell me what it means, Sebastian," Faye demanded, folding her arms and glaring up at him.

He shrugged helplessly. "I can not. I've never been in love before. I know that my love is selfish, as I already told you. I know that I want you to be happy, as long as that includes you being by my side. I will do everything I can to make you happy, my Lady. Beyond that, all I can do is show you what it means for me to love you as we learn together."

Faye hesitated a moment, then sighed as she gently said, "I really do have to go, Sebastian. I'll see you and Ciel later." She turned and left. Sebastian's heart clenched as he watched her go. He wondered what would happen next and when Faye would finally be his completely.


	15. Taken

**Phantomhive Manor**

The night was dark and loud. Fierce winds blew against the walls of the manor and thunder cracked at regular intervals. Rain pounded on the roof and windows. Sebastian, surprisingly, had fallen asleep. He didn't need much sleep, not like humans did, but he it was something he did upon occasion. He had been fretting in a most irritating fashion over what Faye was feeling right now. He hated not knowing. He hated having her so far away. Eventually, it seemed all his uncharacteristic emotional angst caught up with him and he feel into a deep, dreamless sleep.

Across the manor, Ciel's sleep was more fretful. The constant noise of the storm ensured that he was in and out of sleep. Thanks to his bizarre dreams and all the noise already going on, he didn't notice when the window opened from the outside. He also assumed he was still dreaming when a blanket was thrown on him and he was hauled over someone's shoulder. It was only when the rain soaked through the blanket enough to get him wet that he realized he wasn't dreaming.

 **Unknown Location**

Ciel was soaked and furious by the time he was finally back inside somewhere and put down on a chair. Only after he was tied to the chair was the blanket removed. "What is the meaning of this?" Ciel immediately demanded with a snarl. "If you think you're going to get away with kidnapping the Earl Phantomhive, you are badly mistaken." It took Ciel's eyes a moment to adjust to the dim light. When they did, he found his kidnapper kneeling on the floor, grinning up at him with ridiculously long white locks obscuring his eyes.

"Welcome, Lord Phantomhive. I'm so grateful you were able to be here for this most auspicious occasion."

"What are you up to now, Undertaker?" Ciel asked, narrowing his eye.

"I wanted you here to witness my success!" Undertaker exclaimed, jumping to his feet and throwing his arms open wide. "There's no one else I'd rather share it with."

"You're insane," Ciel said in a deadpan voice. "I've no desire to share your macabre experiments with you."

Undertaker wagged a finger at Ciel. "Tut, tut, Earl. Genius is often mistaken for insanity. Surely you know that. Just look at how far my creations have come." He gestured toward a dark doorway and a man dressed as a butler came through carrying a serving tray. It took Ciel a moment to realize the man was a zombie.

The zombie placed a strawberry pastry on a nearby table and poured some tea. Undertaker scooted Ciel's chair over, untying one of his hands. "You see, Earl? Look at how well behaved he is. A tragic accident with a horse and carriage took this man's life, but _I_ brought him back and now he's serving you tea." Undertaker chortled.

"There's no way I'm eating or drinking that," Ciel said, staring at the food and drink in disgust.

Undertaker tutted again. "That's very poor manners, Earl. You'll hurt Mr. Mason's feelings." He waved his hands, his long sleeves waving wildly. "But that's all beside the point. I didn't invite you here for tea." He paused, his grin slowly sliding off his face as he became more serious. "I have conquered death, Earl." He put his hands on the armrests of Ciel's chair, lowering himself until Ciel could see his chartreuse eyes. "To celebrate this, I'm going to bring your parents back to life."

 **Outside Phantomhive Manor**

"We're really going to work with a demon?" Ronald asked for what must have been the fifth time. He stared at William as though expecting him to suddenly morph into an imposter. The idea that William T. Spears would actually consent to teaming up with a demon was simply too farfetched for Ronald to truly believe. He kept expecting to wake up and discover it was all a dream.

"Yes," William said in a clipped tone. His irritation was beginning to show. He adjusted his glasses, sending a glare Ronald's way to warn his subordinate not to ask again. "I fail to see what other reason we could possibly have for traveling to Phantomhive Manor at the crack of dawn. It's hardly to pay a social call to Faye's little brother."

"But why does it have to be so early?" Grey asked as he yawned and stretched his arms, nearly bumping into Phipps as the carriage rattled. "The sun isn't even up yet. What makes you think the brat earl will be awake yet?"

"William wants to get this over with as quickly as possible," Faye said, her tone nearly as clipped as William. Like Ronald, Faye was shocked when she told William the truth about Ciel's plan and, after much deliberation, he suggested they team up. She wanted them to hurry and arrange everything before William could think too hard about what he was doing and change his mind. She also didn't want to give herself time to change her mind. She had to keep her priorities straight, and her anger and confusion toward Sebastian was not a priority at the moment.

"Undertaker has been a problem for months now and no one has made much progress against him," Faye said "The death toll and overtime are both out of control. Not to mention the risk of exposure to the normal population. Rumors of the dead rising again are already circulating around London. If this goes on for much longer, we won't be able to keep the zombies a secret. If we pool our resources together, we may have better luck."

Grey looked unconvinced, but said no more as Faye opened the carriage door and marched onto the porch of Phantomhive Manor. She opened the door and stepped into pandemonium.

Faye watched in shock as the Phantomhive servants looked like the apocalypse was upon them. Tears ran down Mey-Rin's face as she ran back and forth in the foyer of the manor, shouting something Faye couldn't make out. Finney sat on the stairway, also crying, with a glum looking Snake sitting next to him. Baldroy was alternately shouting at Finney and Mey-Rin, though Faye couldn't tell if he was trying to give them a pep talk or ream them out for something. Prince Soma paced back and forth in front of the stairs muttering to himself, while Agni appeared to be trying to calm him.

"What on earth…?" Faye asked, trailing off.

Grey peeked around Faye and made a noncommittal sound. "Chaos at Phantomhive Manor. Looks like a normal day around here to me."

Faye turned to glare at him and didn't see Sebastian approach. When she turned back around and saw him, the grim look on his face unnerved her. "Where is Ciel? What happened to him?" She immediately demanded. She couldn't imagine what other reason Sebastian would have for looking so grim, and something happening to Ciel would explain why the servants were in such a panic.

"He's gone," Sebastian said shortly. "He was taken in the night."

"What?" Faye whispered, her blood running cold. "How? Why? And who could possibly get passed you?"

Sebastian's mouth tightened. "Think for a moment, my Lady. Who do we know who has already attempted to apprehend your brother and would be good enough to kidnap him even with me present?"

Comprehension dawned suddenly, and the answer made Faye feel sick. "Undertaker."

"Undertaker?" Grey asked in confusion. "What in the world would Undertaker want with the little brat?"

Sebastian regarded Grey coldly. "Undertaker has acted as an informant for the Phantomhive family for many years. He's known Lord Ciel a long time and always seemed fond of him, but…I do not know why he wants Lord Ciel or what he plans to do with him."

Before anyone could fathom a guess as to why Undertaker wanted Ciel or make any other suggestions, the door to the manor flew open and a cheery voice cried, "Hello, Phantomhives! We're here to visit!"

Faye spun around and to her horror saw Elizabeth walk in with Edward and Annabelle, the kidnapped girl Faye and Mey-Rin had saved, behind her.

Elizabeth paused in surprise at the sight that greeted her. She tilted her head quizzically as she asked, "Where is Ciel?"

Faye threw a panicked look at the servants and they immediately attempted to pull themselves together, not wanting Elizabeth to realize anything was wrong.

"I'm afraid that now isn't a good time," Faye said, moving to stand in front of Elizabeth and block her view of the rest of the household.

"Why not?" Elizabeth demanded, ducking and twisting to see around Faye. "Who are these strange men with you, Faye? And aren't those two men the Queen's butlers? Why are they here?"

"We have watch dog business, Elizabeth," Faye said. That was the only plausible explanation as to why Charles Grey and Charles Phipps would be at Phantomhive Manor. "Ciel is too busy to see you today…I'll tell him you dropped by and I promise he'll come to see you soon. You know that you really should write or call first, Elizabeth. It's only polite and you never know when we'll be busy with the Funtom Company or our _other_ business."

"Watch dog business?" Annabelle repeated, her brow furrowing in confusion. She looked around the room as though searching for something. "Do the Phantomhives train watch dogs?"

Annabelle was ignored as Elizabeth shoved passed Faye and looked around the room. "Where is Ciel?" She demanded, her voice taking on a frightened edge. When the servants gave each other nervous looks rather than answering, she pointed an accusing finger at Finney. "You. Tell me where Ciel is right now."

Finney pointed a startled finger at himself as though to verify Elizabeth meant him, then he threw a panicked look at Bard and Mey-Rin before glancing at Faye. "He's…I mean, the young Lord…went for a walk to clear his head."

Faye resisted the urge to smack her forehead.

"That's right!" Bard jumped in, as though if more people agreed it would make the lie more believable. "This latest case really has the Master stumped, so he decided to see if he could get a different perspective with the help of fresh air…" Bard trailed off lamely, having lost his false cheerfulness halfway through his sentence. Not to mention the dark, threatening sky and muddy ground outside made the idea of a walk unlikely.

Elizabeth crossed her arms, looking more and more unhappy. "And what about you, Mey-Rin? Are you going to tell me that Ciel went for a walk as well?"

"Th-that's right," Mey-Rin said with a firm nod of her head. "The young Master can't talk to you because he's out for a walk."

Elizabeth whirled back to Faye. "I know it's a lie! Ciel's in trouble, isn't he? That's why you're gathered here with all the servants and these strange men. You're going to go rescue Ciel, right? Let me come to."

Faye immediately started shaking her head, but Elizabeth just kept on talking. "I'm his _fiancé,_ Faye. Someday, the watch dog life and the Queen's assignments will be part of my life too." She placed a hand on her heart. "I have to prove myself now and I won't sit back while Ciel needs me."

She stared up at Faye with an utterly determined look on her face. Faye had never seen her young cousin look more serious and resolute.

"Lizzy's not going anywhere without me," Edward declared. "If she's going to help Ciel…" An unhappy look crossed his face. "Then so am I. He is family, after all. And I have to make sure nothing happens to Elizabeth."

"Um…" Annabelle spoke up cautiously, looking like she hated to interrupt. "If Lady Faye's brother is in trouble and the Midfords are going to help…I want to help too."

"No offense, Lady Annabelle, but I think this is way over your head," Faye said. "I think this is over the Midfords' heads as well. None of you should get involved with this."

"I'm going and you can't stop me!" Elizabeth declared, fisting her hands and stomping her foot. Tears sprang to her eyes. "I won't abandon Ciel. He would never do that to me."

"And I owe you my life and my freedom," Annabelle said, speaking in a stronger tone. "I wouldn't be standing here if not for you, Lady Faye. I can't just walk away while you're in need."

Edward cast an admiring look at Annabelle and a proud, though concerned look at Elizabeth. "There you have it, Faye. Either you bring us with you or you knock us out. That's the only way we're not coming with you."

Faye sighed in defeat. As much as she would have preferred to knock out her cousins and Annabelle, they didn't have time for this. And, truth be told, they might need Elizabeth's and Edward's help. "Fine," Faye said grudgingly. "Ciel has been kidnapped. We're leaving to go get him now."

"Where is he?" Elizabeth asked, her hands clasped together.

Faye glanced at Sebastian. She had a spell that could track an evil act back to the perpetrator if the act was recent. She hadn't been able to use it so far because none of the zombies had been created recently enough for the spell to trace back to Undertaker, and the few times she'd seen Undertaker he hadn't actually done anything. Only his zombies had. This time, he'd slipped up. Kidnapping was an evil act and Faye should be able to create a trail that would lead them to Undertaker. However, the last thing she needed was for her cousins or the servants to see her use magic.

"We have some idea as to where he may be," Sebastian said, jumping in. "However, there are some supplies we need to gather first. Lady Elizabeth, Lord Edward, if you and your guest would come help me?"

The three obligingly followed Sebastian and Faye used the opportunity to run to Ciel's room and cast her spell.

 **Undertaker's Base**

Faye's magic trail, kept hidden from Elizabeth, Annabelle, and Edward thanks to Phipps, Grey's, and Sebastian's amazing powers of distraction and misdirection, led to a deserted looking mansion. Vines crept up the side of it, multiple windows seemed to be missing glass panes, and rotting wood led to drooping windowsills in danger of falling. Despite the dark clouds covering the sky, no lights shown within the mansion.

"Are you sure this is the place?" Edward asked, looking at the mansion skeptically. "It looks like no one lives here."

"Which is exactly why it would make a good hideout," Grey argued. "Besides, it looks creepy enough for zombies and Undertaker."

Edward winced at the word zombie. They had explained to the Midfords and Annabelle what they were up against on the way over. Edward seemed doubtful of the existence of zombies. Faye had told him if he didn't believe he didn't get to come, because it meant he'd be caught off guard. Edward stayed quiet after that.

"If this is where Ciel is, then it's where I'm going," Elizabeth said, marching forward.

"Wait, Elizabeth!" Faye exclaimed in alarm, jumping forward and grabbing hold of her cousin's shoulders. "We don't know what's waiting inside. Let the men go first. And get your sword out."

"That's right, Lizzy," Edward said, nodding firmly and stepping forward.

Faye stared at him. "I said let the men go first, Edward, not the boys."

Edward glared at Faye, but allowed William and Grey to lead the way. He moved to just in front of Elizabeth and took out his sword as Elizabeth and Annabelle did the same.

They entered the mansion and spread out in the front room, each alert and wary. Faye tensed when several shadows appeared in a doorway, but became confused when a number of servants, including children, walked into the room instead of a ravening horde of zombies.

"Humans?" Grey said in disbelief and disappointment. His shoulder sagged and he turned to look at Faye. "You did lead us to the wrong place after all, Phantomhive."

"No, she didn't," Sebastian said, his voice tense and his kitchen knives already in his hands. "These are zombies. All of them."

Taking a closer look in the dim light, Faye could barely make out the tell-tale stiches of Undertaker's zombies on the servants. Chills crept up Faye's spine as she looked at the children present.

"That's a little impolite, sir," a zombie dressed as a butler said, stepping forward. "We were once living people too, you know. And, thanks to Undertaker we are again."

"Yeah!" A boy who looked about ten declared. "We get to live again now. So don't kill us, okay?"

"I would like to see my children again," a zombie dressed as a kitchen maid said wistfully as she pulled a butcher knife out of her apron. "Please let me survive this night."

All the zombies then took out various weapons and rushed forward. Faye felt sick. How could these zombies be talking to them? How was she supposed to fight and kill people asking her to let them live? The fight proved more difficult than previous ones. Rather than running forward with a mindless drive to devour and kill, these zombies fought using reason and skill on top of their superhuman capabilities.

After shoving a man dressed as a chimney sweep away from her, Faye spun around to face a new attacker and found a little girl in a pink dress. Faye froze.

"Please don't kill me," the girl sniffed. "I don't want to die again. I didn't want to die the first time. It wasn't my fault." She sniffed again.

Faye couldn't make herself move. Undertaker had been trying and trying to truly bring the dead back to life, to infuse corpses with their former owner's personality and being. Had he succeeded? Suddenly, the mouth of the little girl opened wide, exposing blood covered teeth and she lunged forward.

Faye stumbled backward, but before the zombie could get her or Faye could decide whether to attack or run, a sword pierced the girl's head from behind. Faye looked up to see Phipps holding the sword, a sad expression on his face. "The girl is long gone," he said quietly. "Even if Undertaker has created zombies that can talk, whoever this little girl used to be was not present here tonight."

Faye nodded slowly, still shaken by the attack. Whatever Undertaker was doing, however powerful he was, she did not believe he had the power to recall souls from the afterlife. These zombies, despite their ability to talk and reason, were still zombies, even if they thought they had memories of former lives.

She steeled herself to fight for real when an authoritative voice called, "Halt!" Everyone, zombies included, looked at the top of a grand staircase to see Undertaker. The serious look on his face dissolved in a giggle. "Such an ostentatious word, don't you think? Halt. Maybe even arrogant."

Undertaker titled his head as he surveyed the crowd below. "What do you think of my pets, Phantomhive? William? Impressive, aren't they? You've only been fighting the rejects, the ones I sent out to keep you off my trail. These are my real masterpieces."

"Where is Ciel?" Faye demanded, not caring about Undertaker's soliloquy.

Undertaker sighed, appearing put out at being interrupted. "Your brother is safe, Phantomhive. I have no intention of harming him. I just wanted him here to witness my success. We have known each other for a long time, after all. I also wanted to commemorate my triumph over death by doing a favor for the poor boy. The Earl has had such a difficult life. He deserves something good, don't you think?"

"What favor?" She asked hoarsely, her voice losing strength. What was Undertaker talking about?

Undertaker tapped his lips thoughtfully with one long nail. "You might change your mind about my creations when you see, Phantomhive. Ciel's already enjoying his surprise right now. You should join him."

The stillness below was interrupted when Elizabeth skewered the head of another zombie. "I don't understand what's going on here," she said darkly, glaring up at Undertaker. "And I don't really care. Tell me where my fiancé is."

Undertake shrugged like he didn't care who knew the answer. "I thought the courtyard would be a nice place for tea. You should all let Phantomhive go by herself first, though. Family reunions really should be conducted in private."

Faye's blood ran cold, though she didn't really comprehend what Undertaker was saying. Heedless of those around her, Faye ran through the house to the backyard. Sebastian and Elizabeth were at her side in an instant while the rest stayed behind to finish off the surviving zombies.

Faye came to an abrupt halt when she stepped outside into the courtyard. Thunder rumbled in the distance and lightning flashed through the dark sky, but Faye's whole attention was focused on the two beings standing a few yards away. Though they were dressed in finery, their skin had a gray tone and their hair looked thin and limp. Before her stood a stitched up Rachel and Vincent Phantomhive.

 **A/N:** Muwhaha! I finally worked in a cliffhanger. Only one more chapter to go.


	16. Endings and Beginnings

**Undertaker's Base**

At the sight of her zombie parents, Faye turned to the bushes next to her and threw up.

Behind her, Elizabeth gasped. "Uncle Vincent? Aunt Rachel?"

"No, Elizabeth," a quavering voice said. Faye hadn't even seen her brother. Her attention had been too focused on Undertaker's latest abominations. "Those are _not_ my parents."

"Ciel!" A voice that sounded very much like Faye's mother chastised, putting her hands on her hips. "Is that anyway to talk to your mother after such a long time?"

Faye stared in disbelief at the red-haired woman. The familiar voice brought an ache to her chest. She'd heard that voice so many times. To hear the voice come out of this…abominable creation was almost more than Faye could handle.

"Come see your mother," the Rachel zombie said.

The zombie walked toward Ciel and he backed up, his face white. "Stay back!" He ordered.

The next moment, Sebastian stood between Ciel and the advancing zombie.

"Faye, what's going on?" Elizabeth asked, grasping Faye's sleeve.

"Undertaker's sick idea of performing a favor," Faye said bitterly, not knowing what to do.

"Faye," the voice of Vincent Phantomhive said in a gentle tone that brought tears to Faye's eyes. "I know it's been so hard for you and your brother with us gone. I can't thank the two of you enough for looking after each other, but you don't need to worry about that now. Your mother and I are back. We'll take care of everything from now on."

"You're not," Faye whispered, shaking her head back and forth. "You're not back."

"That's a cruel thing to say," the Vincent zombie said, an infinitely sad look on his face. "I'm sure you bear some resentment toward your mother and me. I understand, Faye, I do. We left you all alone when you were so young. No child should have to bear that burden." He took a few steps closer and held his arms out. "Let us make it right. Let us make it up to you now."

Faye continued to shake her head, tears starting to fall. "You said…you said that Ciel and I have watched over each other since you left." Her voice hardened. "If you actually held my father's soul and had watched us from the afterlife, you would know that Ciel and I _haven't_ spent most of our time together since your death."

The Vincent zombie let his arms drop back down to his sides. Faye didn't know what would have happened next because the courtyard exploded into chaos. The rest of their motley crew of grim reapers and humans finally caught up to them and Undertaker reappeared, a small army of zombies behind him.

Undertaker crossed his arms and pouted as he surveyed Ciel and Faye. "I go through all this trouble to do something nice, to perform a _miracle_ for the Phantomhives, and look at how ungrateful they are." He tutted and shook his head. "Your parents raised you to be better than this, Earl. Look at how sad you're making them."

"They're not my parents, you madman!" Ciel burst out.

Undertaker sighed. "This latest generation simply knows nothing of gratitude. They're so full of a sense of entitlement that you simply can't do anything for them. Perhaps you'll come to see the magnitude of my generosity it time, Earl. You just need to get used to it. In the meantime, since all my most persistent enemies decided to come visit me, I can't pass up such a convenient opportunity to eliminate them." He raised one hand high in the air and snapped his fingers. At the sound, his zombie horde raced forward. At that moment, the sky opened and rain started to pour.

"Ciel!" Faye cried, running toward him through the downpour. Undertaker hadn't sounded like he wanted Ciel dead, but he might get hurt in the scuffle. He was unarmed and the most vulnerable of their party. She found him huddled by a tree, the zombie Rachel and Vincent standing protectively in front of him.

She froze at the sight, forcing Sebastian to jump to her aid when two zombies came at her. "My Lady," he chastised as he killed the two zombies, "I realize you've received quite a shock, but please be more careful. Now is no time to lose your head."

Faye stared at Sebastian uncomprehendingly, her mind unable to wrap itself around all that was going on. She was going into shock. "Aren't I supposed to be as hard to kill as you?"

Sebastian sighed and moved Faye farther back from the fighting. "I'd still rather you not be hurt at all, my Lady. Stay here," he urged before disappearing.

Around the courtyard everyone except the Phantomhives were engaged in fights. Elizabeth, Grey, and Phipps were blurs with their swords as they fought their way through the zombie horde. William and Ronald cut through zombies with their death scythes, William methodically and Ronald haphazardly, as they tried to make their way to Undertaker. She couldn't see Sebastian, but figured the crowd of zombies obscured him from her vision.

When Faye looked at Ciel again, the sight of him looking so deathly pale and sick finally galvanized her into action. She walked over to him, her skirts heavy with water. Ciel jerked in surprise when he heard her, and his guardian zombies turned at the noise, but turned back toward the fight when the saw Faye.

"Are you hurt, Ciel?" Faye asked quietly.

He shook his head, then spoke in an almost inaudible voice. "We have to end them."

"What?" Faye asked, not keeping her voice quite as quiet as her brother.

He gestured toward his zombie guards and Faye reluctantly flicked her eyes to them. "It's not them," he said quietly, staring into Faye's eyes. "If it was, they would be horrified. Our parents were neither weaklings nor cowards. They would never want to be brought back like this."

Faye hung her head, tears falling again. She knew Ciel was right. She was more horrified by the very existence of these two zombies than all the rest combined, but the idea of killing beings with the faces of her mother and father still made her despair. How could she?

"I'll help you," Ciel promised quietly.

"How?" Faye asked. "You're not very good with knives."

Ciel pulled Faye down so he could speak in her ear. "It appears Undertaker wanted our parents' resurrection to be complete with authentic clothing. The Vincent zombie is carrying a gun."

Faye glanced over and saw a slight bulge on the left side of the Vincent zombie's jacket, indicating he had a gun holstered there. Despite everything going on, Ciel was still perceptive. The thought made Faye feel ashamed. If her little brother could keep himself together under these circumstances, then so could she.

"We'll do it now," Ciel said, then stepped away from the tree. "F-father," Ciel said. Faye wondered if the quaver in his voice was real or faked.

"Yes, Ciel?" The Vincent zombie asked, half-turning with a distracted smile on his face. Ciel held his arms out for a hug and the zombie's smile grew more tender as he turned fully around. The Rachel zombie smiled at the exchange and Faye surreptitiously grasped one of the knives up her sleeve as she watched both zombies.

Faye felt sick as she watched Ciel pretend to hug the Vincent zombie. The moment Ciel had hold of the gun, he jumped back and aimed for the zombies face. At the same time Faye heard the sound of the gun go off, she threw her knife into the head of the Rachel zombie. The Rachel zombie had already been turning toward the other zombie, so the knife struck the side of her head rather than the back, but the blow was still enough. The two zombies had time to give the Phantomhive siblings a look of disbelieving hurt and betrayal before they moved no more.

~.~

In all the fights Sebastian had been in during his long life, none felt as surreal as this. He was doing something he never imagined would or could happen. He was fighting side-by-side with a grim reaper. It was going about as well as he expected.

"Your movements are too chaotic!" William chastised as Undertaker ducked through Sebastian's defenses to swing his scythe at William.

"Yours are too predictable," Sebastian shot back, aiming a kick at Undertaker's head. Undertaker swung his scythe in an arc over his head and blocked Sebastian, all while avoiding multiple jabs from William's pruner.

A soft, horrified sound caught Sebastian's attention. It sounded like a mix between a sob and a moan. It wouldn't have caught his attention at all if he hadn't been able to tell who made the sound. Faye. He risked looking away from the fight for a split-second to look for her. He found her next to Ciel, the zombie forms of their parents dead at their feet.

He paused in his fighting, leaving Undertaker to William for a moment. _That_ was why he was here fighting Undertaker. Not because he cared about or was concerned over Undertaker's experiments. Not because the Queen's assignments mattered to him one way or another. He was fighting Undertaker because it mattered to Faye. And he was going to kill Undertaker for causing her so much pain.

"Demon!" William called in an irritated tone. "Do you plan to use Undertaker to finish me off, or do you plan to help me?"

"You should have thought to bring a death scythe for me," Sebastian said casually. "Really, I'm much more adept at killing than you reapers. Your work is easy. Take the soul _after_ they die and deal with the occasional recalcitrant victim. Me on the other hand?" He moved too quickly for even William to track. One moment, he stood a few feet away from the scuffling grim reapers staring at Faye, the next he stood behind Undertaker with a knife jammed in each of Undertaker's shoulders. Sebastian stabbed at just the right angle to cut the motor function of Undertaker's arms and the reaper's limbs sagged, though he still kept hold of his death scythe. "I make killing an _art_."

Seizing the moment, William lunged forward, his death scythe aimed for Undertaker's heart. Undertaker whipped his body backward, crashing his skull against Sebastian's and evading William's attack.

"Clever, Butler," Undertaker said. "But I'm still not dead."

"It wouldn't be an art if it was instantaneous every time," Sebastian assured him, digging his knives in deeper. "As an artist, I find it boring to do the same thing repeatedly. I'm sure you understand."

"Quite," Undertaker agreed. "Here I thought we would never agree on anything."

Undertaker struck backward with a powerful kick, forcing Sebastian to jump away. William sprung forward for another attack, intending to finish off Undertaker for good. Undertaker ducked and spun around before dropping to the ground and rolling away. When he rolled back to his feet, he noticed something missing.

"You really ought to take better care of your things," Sebastian said, clutching Undertaker's massive death scythe. "Pity for you. Also…" he swung the massive death scythe, cutting Undertaker in two, "it's _Marquis._ "

William heaved a sigh of relief, righting a nearby chair that looked like it had been out for tea and dropping into it. "Finally."

The pouring rain lightened to a drizzle and then stopped completely. Some of the dark clouds began parting and patches of blue sky became visible. Around the courtyard, Undertaker's creations lay dead. Everyone looked around, as though unable to believe all their opponents were really gone. Finally, Elizabeth asked, "Is it over?"

"Yes, Lizzy, it's over," Ciel said, making his way to her. "We'll have to make sure Undertaker wasn't hiding any more zombies anywhere, but that should be easy to take care of." He pulled Elizabeth into a hug, holding her tightly. "You were brilliant, Lizzy."

"Oh Ciel, I was so worried about you!" Elizabeth cried, burying her face in his shoulder.

"I know," he said, patting her shoulder before pulling back. Elizabeth looked at him in confusion, wondering why he was pulling away from her. Ciel cleared his throat and stood straight. "Lizzy, I know we're already engaged, but I want to make it more official. So, Elizabeth Midford, will you marry me in four years?"

"Oh Ciel!" Elizabeth cried again, this time her voice exuberant as she threw her arms around Ciel. "Yes, yes, yes!"

"Congratulations, Ciel, Lizzy," Faye said. "But I'm afraid I can't approve of your marriage as things stand."

Ciel, Elizabeth, and Edward threw Faye a mix of shocked and confused looks. "Isn't that my line?" Edward asked.

Ignoring him, Faye looked at Ciel and said, "It would hardly be proper for my younger brother to marry before me. Sebastian and I will have to beat you."

Sebastian strode across the courtyard and wrapped one arm around Faye's waist, sweeping her against him as he cradled her head in his other hand. "Do you mean that?" He asked, searching Faye's eyes.

"I have the feeling I'm going to agree eventually, regardless of how complicated the matter is," she confessed. "I may as well agree to marry you under my own terms rather than yours. _But_ that doesn't mean we're going to get married immediately. We have some things to work out first."

Jubilant, Sebastian bent down and kissed Faye hard on the mouth.

Elizabeth gasped and blushed at the sight.

"Faye, no!" Ronald cried, turning to look at William as though William could stop this. The older reaper merely sighed and shook his head. He couldn't deny the hand he'd played in leading this to happen, but there was nothing he could do about it now.

"Phantomhive is marrying a demon?" Grey asked, raising one eyebrow. Then he shrugged. "It's not like that family can't get any weirder. Sounds like a good match to me. If you two are getting married, I suppose I promise I'll never try to kill Sebastian again for Faye's sake…So long as he doesn't get in my way."

"Congratulations," Phipps said quietly once Sebastian released Faye. "I hope you two are happy together."

Edward cleared his throat, blushing and looking awkward. "Well, I guess if everyone is making declarations…" He got down on one knee before Annabelle, making her gasp. "Lady Annabelle, it has been a joy having you live with my family and seeing you grow close with Elizabeth. I would like nothing more than for you to stay by my side. Will you marry me?"

"Yes," Annabelle said, smiling brightly. "I can't imagine anything better than marrying you, Edward, and joining the Midford and Phantomhive families."

"Mental, that one," Grey muttered to Phipps, wondering where in the world the girl came from and what frame of reference made her think being related to the Phantomhives was a good idea.

"Well," Faye said brusquely, "since today seems to be a day of new beginnings, I have an offer for you, Mr. Phipps. You and Grey have mentioned the Queen will fire you after you've so blatantly abandoned her and my brother is in need of a new butler. I can't imagine anyone more qualified than you. Would you be willing to become the head servant of the Phantomhive Manor?"

Phipps regarded Ciel seriously. Ciel blinked blankly back at him, shocked by Faye's suggestion.

"The Phantomhives have exceptional servants," Phipps finally said. "I think very highly of them and wouldn't mind working closely with them. And serving the Phantomhives would sort of be like serving the Queen." He nodded once. "I'll do it."

Grey glowered. "That's my partner you're talking about stealing, you know." Then he sighed and shrugged. "But I admit things would be rather awkward with the Queen after we disobeyed her orders. And besides, I have a feeling life will be far more interesting if we stick around the Phantomhives."

Ciel glared. "You are absolutely _not_ welcome at Phantomhive Manor, Lord Grey."

Grey gave Ciel an unimpressed look. "Unfortunately for you, Earl, I don't care what little brats think."

 **Epilogue**

 **Phantomhive Manor**

"But I feel like you're too young to live by yourself, Ciel," Faye said worriedly, staring at her little brother sitting behind his desk. "I know you did it for years, but…"

"And our contract is still in place, Lord Phantomhive," Sebastian said. "Perhaps it would be best for Lady Faye and myself to live at Phantomhive Manor for the first few years of our marriage. What if you have need of me?"

"What contract?" Grey asked, looking between Ciel and Sebastian. They ignored him.

"I have no desire to see the two of you married and living together," Ciel said, then shivered dramatically. "You'll be close enough living at Sebastian's manor. It's not that far away. Besides, Phipps is proving to be an excellent butler and all the other servants are doing better due to Agni's training."

Phipps gave a nod of thanks. Bard, Mey-Rin, Snake, and Finney had all been a little wary of the former Queen's butler at first, but had warmed to the kind-hearted and competent man soon enough. Now, they were all running to Phipps to check their work, asking him if it was up to his standards and accepting his patient tutelage if it was not.

Prince Soma, on the other hand, had given Phipps a much colder reception. He enjoyed living at Phantomhive Manor with Ciel and wanted to stay, though part of him admitted he was excited to get Agni back as his fulltime butler. Sharing him was annoying.

"What will the poor little brat Earl do without his big sister around to watch over him?" Grey asked, crossing his arms and shaking his head in mock sympathy. "Without a demon butler—"

" _Marquis,_ " Sebastian interrupted with a glare.

Grey continued as though no one had spoken, "and a lady around, how will you ever manage to grow up into a proper lord?"

"Lord Grey," Ciel prompted.

Grey looked over. "Yes, Lord Brat?"

Ciel reached into one of his drawers. "I have a task for you if you're going to hang around here and be in the way." He grabbed something from the drawer and slowly lifted it. When his arms reached above the desk, Oscar became visible. "It's such a nice day outside and Oscar loves to sun himself on the porch. Would you mind taking him down?"

Grey jumped behind Phipps, his face white. "Wh-wh-why is that filthy animal here?" He demanded, gripping Phipps suit jacket with one hand and pointing at the snake with another. "Why do you have snakes, Phantomhive?"

"Didn't you know?" Ciel asked with a smirk. "Our footman Snake used to be a snake charmer in a circus. He must have at least a dozen snakes. I'd be careful where I step around the manor if I were you. They don't appreciate being stepped on."

"You _did_ say you wanted to hang around the Phantomhive to have a more interesting life," Phipps commented quietly, turning to look at his friend.

"Not interesting like that!" Grey whined.

Sebastian took Faye's hand and led her out of Ciel's office as the three men bantered.

"It looks like it's just going to be the two of us then," Sebastian said.

"R-right," Faye said, the thought of moving in with Sebastian into another home as his wife made her nervous. She'd agreed to marry him and she meant it, but the idea was still a bit nerve-wracking. The idea of getting married period was nerve-wracking. "Though we might want to hire a few servants for appearances sake."

"If you wish," Sebastian brushed off, pulling Faye closer. He ran one gloved hand down her cheek. "You don't have to be concerned for the future. I promise I'll take care of you for eternity. We can remain close and look after Ciel's descendants if you want, or we can travel the world or other realms. Whatever you wish, my Lady."

Faye wrapped her arms around Sebastian's shoulders. "Other realms?" She asked curiously. "You know, after all that zombie hunting, I'm a bit tired of London. I propose we spend our honeymoon exploring one of these other realms of yours."

 **A/N:** I feel like this third part was kind of 'meh' compared to my other two Black Butler stories. Oh well. Thank you so much to everyone who read this series from beginning to end and to everyone who followed, favorited, and/or reviewed! Sebastian and Faye are tough cookies to crack, but they're finally together.


End file.
